Cuma 15 Şub 2008, 9:53

Continuing in our series over at the Jazz Desk in the Music Advice Center, we recommend these albums as 27 instances of great jazz albums that evoke spirituality or invoke a greater power.

If you are interested in joining the conversation at the jazz desk, we build these lists two or three entries at a time, readers as editors and critics. The guidelines are simple: the only limits are one entry per (main) artist, the connection to jazz must be present, and each contributor decides his or her definition of the topic. Surrounding the lists, we discuss the finer points of recommendations, and this takes the conversation into new paths.

astro1_rohit, one of our most prolific contributors, suggested the topic:

25 Great Spiritual Jazz Albums

Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1964)
Alice Coltrane - Huntington Ashram Monastery (1969)
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Bap-Tizum (1972)
Charles Tyler Ensemble - Charles Tyler Ensemble (1966)
Clifford Thornton - Ketchaoua (1969)
David S. Ware - Godspelized (1998)
Don Cherry - Eternal Rhythm (1968)
Donald Byrd - A New Perspective (1963)
Duke Ellington & Mahalia Jackson - Black, Brown, & Beige (1958)
Frank Lowe - Black Beings (1975)
Frank Wright - Church Number 9 (1973)
Freddie Hubbard - Blue Spirits (1964)
Grachan Moncur III - Echoes of Prayer (1974)
Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang - Ask the Sun (1991)
Hannibal Marvin Peterson - The Angels of Atlanta (1981)
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1964)
Jonas Hellborg - The Word (1991)
Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre - Humility in The Light of The Creator (1969)
Larry Young - Lawrence Of Newark (1973)
Mary Lou Williams - Mary Lou's Mass (1975)
Mtume Umoja Ensemble - Alkebu-Lan: Land of the Blacks (1972)
Nicole Mitchell & The Black Earth Ensemble - Afrika Rising (2002)
Pharoah Sanders - Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) (1970)
Sun Ra - Discipline 27-II (1973)
Wadada Leo Smith - Kulture Jazz
Wynton Marsalis - In This House, On This Morning (1992)
Yusef Lateef/Adam Rudolph/Go: Organic Orchestra - In the Garden (2003)

27 Great Spiritual Jazz Albums

//editor's note: I am always reluctant to remove someone else's selections to these lists. The purpose of these lists I see as at least twofold–we build a community resource through a dialogue of great jazz, and for those exploring a genre, we offer a list of recommendations as a jumping off point to other explorations.

I know that many albums can be slotted into several genres, and I also am aware that one person's definition of the genre does not have to carry the same borders that another sees. But, perhaps more than others, I want these lists to be aware of the conversations that have preceded them. That's why, since the lists are targeted at a length of 25, convention has been to limit to one entry per artist. In the albums that follow, three entries have been included on recent lists–one by me! I wouldn't necessarily exclude them from this list, but I've added three to the list, taking it to 27. If listener's have been paying attention, they should already have Bap-tizum and Lawrence of Newark, anyway. Everyone should. The Mtume Umoja Ensemble is more for the committed.//