Best Jazz Songs of All Time

1. 1
   MD
   ▶

   So What

   Miles Davis · from Kind of Blue (1959)

   The modal opening that launched a thousand players.

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2. 2
   JC
   ▶

   Acknowledgement

   John Coltrane · from A Love Supreme (1965)

   The chant-led first movement of his spiritual suite.

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3. 3
   DB
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   Take Five

   Dave Brubeck · from Time Out (1959)

   The unlikely 5/4 hit that everyone knows.

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4. 4
   CM
   ▶

   Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

   Charles Mingus · from Mingus Ah Um (1959)

   An elegy of aching beauty.

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5. 5
   SR
   ▶

   St. Thomas

   Sonny Rollins · from Saxophone Colossus (1956)

   A calypso-tinged tenor showcase.

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6. 6
   CA
   ▶

   Autumn Leaves

   Cannonball Adderley · from Somethin' Else (1958)

   A blue, late-night reading with Miles Davis.

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7. 7
   LM
   ▶

   The Sidewinder

   Lee Morgan · from The Sidewinder (1964)

   An irresistible, danceable hard-bop groove.

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8. 8
   HS
   ▶

   Song for My Father

   Horace Silver · from Song for My Father (1965)

   One of jazz's most recognisable basslines.

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9. 9
   HH
   ▶

   Cantaloupe Island

   Herbie Hancock · from Empyrean Isles (1964)

   A spare, infectious vamp.

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10. 10
    WS
    ▶

    Footprints

    Wayne Shorter · from Adam's Apple (1967)

    A haunting, much-covered waltz.

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11. 11
    BE
    ▶

    Waltz for Debby

    Bill Evans · from Waltz for Debby (1962)

    Delicate trio interplay at its finest.

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12. 12
    PS
    ▶

    The Creator Has a Master Plan

    Pharoah Sanders · from Karma (1969)

    Thirty-plus minutes of ecstatic spiritual jazz.

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