You can argue this point until doomsday, but for my money, nothing captures the mixture of melody, form, spontaneity and improvisation like the jazz quintet. Usually comprised of two horn (trumpet and sax-usually a tenor, but you can slum it with an alto), piano, bass and drums, the quintet is able to mix reeds, brass and rhythm with an ability to be as light or thick and rich as it desires. The peak years of this formation tend to be the 50s and 60s, though it actually began in the bebop era of the 40s and is still used to this day.
If you don’t have any quintet sessions, here is a great starting place for you. Some of these discs have similar personnel; I’ve tried to include the same leader only if major changes happened in terms of members. Happy hunting!
1) The Quintet at Massey Hall-The team of Charlie Parker/as, Dizzy Gillespie/tp, Bud Powell/p, Max Roach/dr and Charlie Mingus/b got together for a last hurrah of bebop in this mid 50s concert. They are about 4-5 years after their initial blast on the music scene, but this disc serves as a good summary of what modern jazz was all about.
2) Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet-At Basin Street. With Sonny Rollins on tenor, Ritchie Powell/p and George Morrow/b finishing up the team, this group set one of the highest standards of hard driving hard bop. The earlier formation with Harold Land on tenor is no slouch, either.
3) Miles Davis Quintet-Cookin’-For one marathon session, Davis, John Coltrane/ts, Philly Joe Jones/dr, Paul Chambers/b and Red Garland/p got together in 55 and delivered definitive versions of tunes like “My Funny Valentine” and “Four.” All four of their albums are worth getting, this one is just from a coin flip
4) Miles Davis Quintet-Miles Smiles-about 10 years later, Davis formed a new team of Wayne Shorter/ts, Ron Carter/b, Herbie Hancock/p and Tony Williams/dr and essentially created a form of post bop jazz that influences just about every record since. All of these releases are essential intros to modern music.
5) Horace Silver-And The Jazz Messengers-A classic early intro to hard bop that essentially started the whole ball rolling. Art Blakey/dr, Hank Mobley/ts, Kenny Dorham/tp and Doug Watkins/b invented the word “funky” on material like “The Preacher.”
6) Horace Silver-Song For My Father-A classic tune and team with either Joe Henderson or Joe Cook/ts, and Blue Mitchell/tp on the front line. Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” is a ripoff of the title track, showing the influence of this disc.
7) Art Blakey-A Night at Birdland-A two volume live gig with Brown, Lou Donaldson/as, Mobley, Blakey, Silver and Curley Russell creating some of the most exciting music you’ll ever want to hear.
8) Art Blakey-tossup-Moanin’ or The Big Beat. Wayne Shorter or Benny Golson on tenor, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano create some of the most soulful music to hit your ears. Morgan’s solo on “Moanin’” is what dreams are made of, while “Lester Left Town” oozes with subtle swing.
9) Phil Woods Quintet-Heaven-Altoist Phil Woods put together one of the longest running and steadily consistent team with Tom Harrell/tp. Hal Galper/p, Steve Gilmore/b and Bill Goodwin/dr. This one, with the Ellington tune as the title track, is one of the best, but they are all of the highest standard and get better with every listening and every year.
10) Tina Brooks-True Blue. Tenor saxist Tina Brooks put together a little working band along with Freddie Hubbard, and they release some very impressive material in the early sixties. This might be their high water mark, but all of them are rare beauties.
11) Herbie Hancock-Maiden Voyage-This 1965 session has the exact same personnel as Miles Davis’ Second Quintet (with Freddie Hubbard at the trumpet), and this one-off date is simply an essential small group recording where everything was working right and sounds completely different with Hancock leading the group. I know of no person alive, even if they HATE jazz, who doesn’t love this disc.
12) Joe Henderson/Kenny Dorham-Page One-Henderson and Dorham linked up in the early 60s and did some amazing material together. This one, with Tyner/p, Butch Warren/b and Pete La Roca/dr includes two classics, “Blue Bossa” and “Recorda Me” and is part of the Hard Bop feel that was a bit more cerebral than other bands.