Best Jazz Songs of All Time
The standards and showcases that define the music — 25 essential jazz tracks, each from an album worth owning.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links below are affiliate links.
-
1MD
So What
The modal opening that launched a thousand players.
-
2JC
Acknowledgement
The chant-led first movement of his spiritual suite.
-
3DB
Take Five
The unlikely 5/4 hit that everyone knows.
-
4CM
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
An elegy of aching beauty.
-
5SR
St. Thomas
A calypso-tinged tenor showcase.
-
6CA
Autumn Leaves
A blue, late-night reading with Miles Davis.
-
7LM
The Sidewinder
An irresistible, danceable hard-bop groove.
-
8HS
Song for My Father
One of jazz's most recognisable basslines.
-
9HH
Cantaloupe Island
A spare, infectious vamp.
-
10WS
Footprints
A haunting, much-covered waltz.
-
11BE
Waltz for Debby
Delicate trio interplay at its finest.
-
12PS
The Creator Has a Master Plan
Thirty-plus minutes of ecstatic spiritual jazz.
-
13JC
My Favorite Things
The Rodgers & Hammerstein song reimagined as a modal statement of intent.
-
14MD
Freddie Freeloader
The blues, finally, after four modal explorations — Wynton Kelly's piano debut.
-
15DB
Take Five
The 5/4 signature no one expected jazz to accept.
-
16BE
Peace Piece
Ten minutes of one chord, pedal tone, and complete transcendence.
-
17TM
Round Midnight
The most covered jazz ballad after the Great American Songbook.
-
18CB
Almost Blue
The trumpet solo so good Elvis Costello named an album after it.
-
19HH
Maiden Voyage
The perfect suspension between form and freedom.
-
20SR
St. Thomas
Calypso and bebop in three minutes of pure pleasure.
-
21WS
Footprints
The minor-key waltz that Miles took and made his own.
-
22OC
Lonely Woman
Don Cherry's trumpet and Coleman's alto — the most beautiful piece of free jazz.
-
23CA
Mercy Mercy Mercy
Joe Zawinul's gospel-soul crossover that made jazz radio-friendly.
-
24CM
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
The Lester Young elegy that became Mingus's most enduring piece.
Tap the artwork or "Listen" to find the track on Amazon Music; "Watch" opens a YouTube search; the song title opens its album page. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases and sign-ups.