Based on Len Lyons,
The 101 Best Jazz Albums (William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1980, ISBN 0-688-08720-5), and Jim Determan's subsequent updates.
| 61. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (Columbia PC 8163) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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The CD and MP3 versions listed above are the original recording reissued and remastered. Lyons calls "Kind of Blue" "one of the most influential albums of the modern period," and that may be an understatement. |
| 62. Miles Davis: Four & More (Columbia PC 9253) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
The CD and MP3 versions listed above are the original recording remastered. The original was recorded at a benefit concert for the Congress on Racial Equality in 1964. |
| 63. Miles Davis: Miles Smiles (Columbia CS 9401) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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Lyons notes that the band here "is a clean, precise instrument that set its sights on a goal beyond the music of the day." The album is available in all three formats. |
| 64. Bill Evans: The Village Vanguard Sessions (Milestone 47002, 2 LPs) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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The CD and MP3 versions listed above are the original recording remastered and include the songs from the original Milestone LP as well as "Waltz for Debby." |
| 66. Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy: The Charlie Mingus Jazz Workshop/Stormy Weather (Barnaby 2-6015, 2 LPs) |
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The 2-LP album that Lyons recommends is not available through Amazon. Determan suggests as an alternative "Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus," which contains half of that double album. The alternative is listed below. |
| 66-Alternative. Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid) |
| Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
| 69. John Coltrane: My Favorite Things (Atlantic 1361) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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As Lyons notes, "John Coltrane has had a greater impact upon jazz since 1960 than any other musician ..." The CD and MP3 versions above are the original recording reissued. |
| 70. John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard (Impulse A-10) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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Lyons admits that he recommends this album because of Trane's 16-minute solo on "Chasin' the Trane," and it is available in all three formats. The CD and MP3 versions are remasters of the original recording. |
| 73. McCoy Tyner: Enlightenment (Milestone M-55001, 2 LPs) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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"Enlightenment" is available in all three formats and, according to Lyon, "captures Tyner's quartet on an evening of cathartic intensity." |
| 74. Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (Blue Note BLP-4195/84195) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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Lyons notes that this album, "despite its graceful compositions, is primarily a blowing session with plentiful soloing," and it is available in all three formats. |
| 76. Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Tony Williams: V.S.O.P.: The Quintet (Columbia CS-34976, 2 LPs) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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This album, which Lyons calls "a magical reunion of the most important young players to emerge in the mid-1960's," is availabe in all three formats. |
| 78. Freddie Hubbard: Breaking Point (Blue Note BLP-4172/BST-84172) |
| Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
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The vinyl LP is not available through Amazon.com or its resellers at present, but the CD and MP3 versions are available. These are remastered originals and contain two extra tracks. |
| 79. Oliver Nelson: Three Dimensions: The Dedication Series, Vol. 3 (Impulse IA-9335/2, 2 LPs) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | | |
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There are no CD or MP3 versions of the album available at this time. Determan suggests two alternatives, which are listed below, and notes that "Blues and the Abstract Truth" is "a classic." Together, the two alternatives contain all of the tracks from "Three Dimensions: The Dedication Series, Vol. 3." |
| 79-Alternative. Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth (Analogue Products) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
| 79-Alternative. Oliver Nelson: Sound Pieces (Impulse) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | Amazon.com — MP3 |
| 80. Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band: Insights (RCA AFL1-2678) |
| Amazon.com — Vinyl | Amazon.com — CD | |
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The CD version is a remastered original. There is currently no MP3 version. |
