Top 10 Jazz Songs of All Time

Check out our list of the top 10 jazz songs of all time! Featuring artists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker, these songs are sure to get you groovin’.

Introduction

Jazz is a genre of music that was created by African Americans in the early 20th century. It is a unique form of music that combines elements of European and African musical traditions. Jazz has been hugely influential in the development of other genres of music, and it remains popular to this day.

There are countless great jazz songs, but some have resonated more than others with audiences and critics alike. Here are ten of the best jazz songs of all time:

1. “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane
2. “So What” by Miles Davis
3. “My Favorite Things” by John Coltrane
4. “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck
5. “All Blues” by Miles Davis
6. “River Runs Through It” by Wayne Shorter
7. “Moody’s Mood for Love” by James Moody
8. “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis
9. “Round Midnight” by Thelonious Monk
10. “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)” by Louis Prima

“So What” by Miles Davis

“So What” is a jazz composition by Miles Davis first appearing on the 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue.
It is considered one of the most important and influential jazz compositions of all time, having been recorded by many other artists. The piece is composed in the key of D-flat major with a moderate tempo of around 84 beats per minute.

The form of “So What” is a thirty-two-bar AABA, with the solo sections written in rubato and played without chords; only the rhythm section keeps a steady pulse. The theme consists of only two phrases, which are then varied during the improvisations. “So What” was one of the first jazz compositions to use modal jazz, which became an important part of jazz in the 1960s and beyond.

The piece became one of Miles Davis’ best known compositions and has been featured on numerous live and studio recordings by Davis and other artists. Notable recordings include those by John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Béla Fleck, Brad Mehldau and Grant Green.

“Take the ‘A’ Train” by Duke Ellington

This song was written by Duke Ellington in 1941 and is one of the most popular jazz songs of all time. It was inspired by a ride on the A train in New York City. The song has been covered by many artists, including Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald.

“All Blues” by Miles Davis

All Blues is a composition by Miles Davis first appearing on the 1959 album Kind of Blue. It is one of the best-known jazz standards. All Blues is set in the key of C Major and employs the blue note. A typical performance is approximately thirteen minutes long.

The structure of All Blues is based onDavis’ chord progression for So What, which uses quintessential jazz harmonies in a minor key: an ostinato accompaniment in the key of G Minor provides the framework for improvisation in C Major by the soloists, who include Davis himself on trumpet. The form of All Blues is not based on conventional twelve-bar blues, but rather takes its structure from “So What”.

The opening theme is stated by Miles Davis before the soloists take their turn improvisation; however, unlike “So What”, no fixed melody exists for the head. The melody that eventually emerges from the solo sections was popularized by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane in his recorded solo, though it was first played by alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley.

“Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis

Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” is not only one of the most influential jazz albums of all time, but also one of the most popular and best-selling. It is consistently ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time by music critics and fans alike. The album features Davis’s famous “modal jazz” approach, which featured improvisation based on modal scales rather than chord progressions. This allowed for greater freedom and creativity in soloing, and resulted in some of the most beautiful and timeless tunes in all of jazz.

“My Favorite Things” by John Coltrane

“My Favorite Things” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It was inspired by Maria’s love for all the simple things in life, despite the chaotic nature of war-torn Austria in the late 1930s.

The song was popularized by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and has since become a jazz standard. It is considered one of Coltrane’s most recognizable and popular compositions, and has been recorded by many other artists.

“Moody’s Mood for Love” by James Moody

“Moody’s Mood for Love” is a 1945 composition by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It is best known through King Pleasure’s 1952 recording, which adapted McHugh’s melody for the lyrics of “I’m in the Mood for Love”. The song became a jazz standard and has been recorded by numerous artists.

The original version of “Moody’s Mood for Love” was recorded by James Moody on November 16, 1945, and released as the B-side of the single “I’m in the Mood for Love”. The song was composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and originally titled “Moody’s Mood”. It was based on the chord progression of McHugh’s earlier tune “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love”, which had been a hit for Louis Armstrong in 1928.

In 1952, King Pleasure recorded a version of “Moody’s Mood for Love” titled “I’m in the Mood for Love”, adapted from Moody’s original melody to Fields’ lyrics. His recording was a hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became one of Pleasure’s signature tunes and helped to establish his career.

Since King Pleasure’s adaptation of “Moody’s Mood for Love”, the song has been recorded by numerous artists across a wide range of genres. Notable recordings include those by Miles Davis (1957), Dinah Washington (1959), Sting (1993), Etta James (1995), Amy Winehouse (2006), and Darius Rucker (2012). The tune has also been used as the basis for several hip hop tracks, such as Ghostface Killah’s “All That I Got Is You” (1996) and Jay-Z’s “Song Cry” (2001).

“A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane

“A Love Supreme” is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist and bandleader John Coltrane, released on December 8, 1964 on Impulse! Records. The album is considered one of the most influential and greatest jazz albums of all time. Recorded in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the album features Coltrane’s quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.

The composition “A Love Supreme” is a four-part suite that expresses Coltrane’s gratitude for his recovery from heroin addiction and dedication to his faith. The first part, “Acknowledgement”, is a solo by Coltrane that leads into the second part, “Resolution”, in which the rest of the band enters. The third part, “Pursuance”, is an extended theme and variations followed by a coda. The fourth and final part, “Psalm”, is a vocal chant by Coltrane based on text from Psalm 57.

“A Love Supreme” was recorded in one session on December 9, 1964 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It was released just over three weeks later on Impulse! Records on January 12, 1965 as a gatefold LP. The album was an instant commercial and critical success, reaching number 13 on Billboard’s Top LPs chart and number two on the magazine’s Jazz Albums chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1997 and has been awarded numerous accolades including being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and being named by Time as one of the 100 greatest albums of all time.

“The Sidewinder” by Lee Morgan

“The Sidewinder” is a jazz composition by Lee Morgan. It was first recorded by Morgan’s band in 1964 and released on the album The Sidewinder. The tune was a major hit and helped propel the sales of the album to over 400,000 copies. It also became a jazz standard and has been recorded by many other artists.

“Now’s the Time” by Charlie Parker

Now’s the Time is a bebop composition by Charlie Parker. It was first recorded by Parker in 1945 and released on the Savoy label in 1947. The composition has been recorded by many jazz artists, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, and McCoy Tyner.

“Now’s the Time” is one of Parker’s most popular compositions and was used as the basis for his famous recording “Shaw ‘Nuff.” The melody is based on the chord progression of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” The opening phrase of the melody is very similar to that of the opening phrase of “I Got Rhythm.” The chord progression of “Now’s the Time” is also similar to that of “I Got Rhythm.”