Best Jazz Songs of All Time

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   So What

   Miles Davis · from Kind of Blue (1959) · Album scores 97/99

   The modal opening that launched a thousand players.

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   Acknowledgement

   John Coltrane · from A Love Supreme (1965) · Album scores 96/99

   The chant-led first movement of his spiritual suite.

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   Take Five

   Dave Brubeck · from Time Out (1959) · Album scores 85/99

   The unlikely 5/4 hit that everyone knows.

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   Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

   Charles Mingus · from Mingus Ah Um (1959) · Album scores 86/99

   An elegy of aching beauty.

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   St. Thomas

   Sonny Rollins · from Saxophone Colossus (1956) · Album scores 84/99

   A calypso-tinged tenor showcase.

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   Autumn Leaves

   Cannonball Adderley · from Somethin' Else (1958) · Album scores 84/99

   A blue, late-night reading with Miles Davis.

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   The Sidewinder

   Lee Morgan · from The Sidewinder (1964) · Album scores 79/99

   An irresistible, danceable hard-bop groove.

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   Song for My Father

   Horace Silver · from Song for My Father (1965) · Album scores 86/99

   One of jazz's most recognisable basslines.

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   Cantaloupe Island

   Herbie Hancock · from Empyrean Isles (1964) · Album scores 85/99

   A spare, infectious vamp.

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    Footprints

    Wayne Shorter · from Adam's Apple (1967) · Album scores 83/99

    A haunting, much-covered waltz.

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    Waltz for Debby

    Bill Evans · from Waltz for Debby (1962) · Album scores 81/99

    Delicate trio interplay at its finest.

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    The Creator Has a Master Plan

    Pharoah Sanders · from Karma (1969) · Album scores 89/99

    Thirty-plus minutes of ecstatic spiritual jazz.

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    My Favorite Things

    John Coltrane · from My Favorite Things (1961) · Album scores 89/99

    The Rodgers & Hammerstein song reimagined as a modal statement of intent.

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    Freddie Freeloader

    Miles Davis · from Kind of Blue (1959) · Album scores 97/99

    The blues, finally, after four modal explorations — Wynton Kelly's piano debut.

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    Take Five

    Dave Brubeck · from Time Out (1959) · Album scores 85/99

    The 5/4 signature no one expected jazz to accept.

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    Peace Piece

    Bill Evans · from Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1958) · Album scores 91/99

    Ten minutes of one chord, pedal tone, and complete transcendence.

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    Round Midnight

    Thelonious Monk · from Brilliant Corners (1957) · Album scores 87/99

    The most covered jazz ballad after the Great American Songbook.

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    Almost Blue

    Chet Baker · from Chet Baker Sings (1954) · Album scores 92/99

    The trumpet solo so good Elvis Costello named an album after it.

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    Maiden Voyage

    Herbie Hancock · from Maiden Voyage (1965) · Album scores 78/99

    The perfect suspension between form and freedom.

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    St. Thomas

    Sonny Rollins · from Saxophone Colossus (1956) · Album scores 84/99

    Calypso and bebop in three minutes of pure pleasure.

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    Footprints

    Wayne Shorter · from Adam's Apple (1967) · Album scores 83/99

    The minor-key waltz that Miles took and made his own.

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    Lonely Woman

    Ornette Coleman · from The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) · Album scores 89/99

    Don Cherry's trumpet and Coleman's alto — the most beautiful piece of free jazz.

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    Mercy Mercy Mercy

    Cannonball Adderley · from Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' (1967) · Album scores 83/99

    Joe Zawinul's gospel-soul crossover that made jazz radio-friendly.

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    Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

    Charles Mingus · from Mingus Ah Um (1959) · Album scores 86/99

    The Lester Young elegy that became Mingus's most enduring piece.

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