NPR's Top Ten Jazz Songs

National Public Radio (NPR) has asked it's listeners to rank their favorite songs in Jazz.

Of course Jazz's history is so deep that no definitive "best" can be made; however the way I see it these songs represent Jazz as songs that sparked trends, or broke new grounds in music.

Here's the list:

Dave Brubeck, “Take Five”
Miles Davis, “So What”
Duke Ellington, “Take The A Train”
Thelonious Monk, “Round Midnight”
John Coltrane, “My Favorite Things”
John Coltrane, “A Love Supreme (Acknowledgment)”
Miles Davis, “All Blues”
Weather Report, “Birdland”
Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto, “The Girl From Ipanema”
Benny Goodman, “Sing, Sing, Sing”

I think this list is pretty good; it's great to see Miles Davis and John Coltrane each take two spots on the list; however I might disagree with "All Blues"; I would have preferred something from Mile's older catalog such as "Walkin'".

I also disagree with "My Favorite Things"; the song, while is a great free modal rework of the classic song (and I posted an intense version here before), but I believe "Blue Train" would be the better choice.

Also, nice to see some jazz-fusion up there (Weather Report); not my favorite of styles but it shows the power of forward thinking jazz.

NPR's Jazz & Blues site