The 10 greatest jazz albums of all time
Davis! Coltrane! Hancock! And the greatest jazz listens ever recorded
Throughout its history jazz has been in fashion and out of it – but it’s never gone away.
Jazz is at its heart Black American music, but it has spawned sub-genres the world over from Nordic jazz to Afro-jazz. Right now, the UK scene is riding high with torchbearers Ezra Collective achieving a level of success previously thought impossible for a UK jazz act – winning the Mercury Prize, headlining Wembley Arena and now adding a Brit Award to their successes.
The current crop of artists leading the jazz scene globally are all indebted to the classics that have shaped them. Any list of ten will leave someone shouting, “what about…”, but not everything can make the cut! These ten records have shifted the dial in some way and in many cases sound as fresh as the day they were recorded.
10. Bill Evans – Sunday at the Village Vanguard
One of only two live albums on this list, Sunday At The Village Vanguard is a classic piano trio record that brings together the lyrical keys work of Evans with the bass of Scott LaFaro and drums of Paul Motian.
The extraordinary interplay between the three musicians across the album’s run time transports the listener to the day in June 1961 when it was recorded at the legendary club. Its release would be marked with sadness as LaFaro tragically died in a car accident just ten days after it was recorded, aged only 25.
9. Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
By the time Miles Davis released Bitches Brew in 1970, he’d put out more legendary music than most do in a career. Ever the sonic chameleon, he would move into his electric period with 1969’s In A Silent Way, a classic album in its own right, which he followed up with the remarkable Bitches Brew.
With the addition of electric piano and guitar, Davis moved into ‘fusion’ territory creating a sprawling record at over 90 minutes, that is heady, experimental and intoxicating. With cover art as iconic as the music itself, Bitches Brew is a landmark from a career that is full of them.
8. Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert
The Köln Concert, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at the start of 2025, is a remarkable album. An hour-long improvisation – it is beautiful, complex and intriguing. It’s extraordinary that such a record should have become a commercial success for its label ECM, but it did.
Most amazing of all though, is that it very nearly didn’t happen.
After a time on the road, Jarrett hadn’t been sleeping and had come down with food poisoning. The requested piano for the gig wasn’t available and he had to use a backup that wasn’t entirely holding tune. It was touch and go whether he would play. When he did go on, the recording was nearly cancelled. Luckily it happened as it is one of the most incredible displays of piano improvisation ever recorded.
7. Thelonious Monk – Brilliant Corners
One of the greatest pianists in jazz history, Thelonious Monk created an extraordinary catalogue of work throughout his much-lauded career. At the top of the pile for many is the 1956 album Brilliant Corners.
Monk’s versatile playing and wide-ranging compositional approach is perfectly complemented by his band, which features among its number fellow legends Sonny Rollins on saxophone and Max Roach on drums. A truly stunning album with layers of complexity to be peeled back with each listen.
6. Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage
In 1965, the now legendary pianist Herbie Hancock delivered Maiden Voyage, a concept album of sorts, where the music is designed to evoke the ocean.
Featuring a stellar line-up with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor sax, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums – the chemistry between the five players is extraordinary. The title track has also become a standard and features a theme recognisable to many who aren’t die-hard jazz fans.
5. Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
A legendarily difficult and fiery character, double-bassist Charles Mingus was also an extraordinary musician and bandleader.
Widely regarded as a landmark in his career, the 1959 album Mingus Ah Um brings together blues, gospel and classical influences that shaped him as an artist – with his post-bop style of jazz. It features several of his most celebrated compositions including a version of the much recorded ‘Better Get It In Your Soul’ and 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'. No jazz collection should be without it!
4. Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come
Calling your album The Shape Of Jazz To Come is a gutsy move to say the least, but in 1959 that is exactly what multi-instrumentalist and band leader Ornette Coleman did.
The record did at least in part live up to its name – pushing forward the possibilities of ‘free’ and ‘avant-garde jazz’. Each track features a main theme and then several minutes of free improvisation followed by a return to the theme. A true landmark of jazz experimentation and forward-thinking composition.
3. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
With A Love Supreme, John Coltrane released one of the defining records of spiritual jazz. Structured as a ‘suite’ in four parts, it is a devotional piece about love and features extraordinary musicianship from Coltrane and his band.
Often interpreted as a testament to his battle against addiction and subsequent spiritual awakening – it vastly outsold his previous records. Like a number of other albums on this list, A Love Supreme has an utterly timeless quality. Not to be missed by anyone wanting to understand modern jazz.
2. Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidananda
Alice Coltrane was an astonishing musician. A rare jazz harpist as well as a pianist, she sadly was often in the shadow of her legendary husband. Her work, though successful at the time has been reappraised and become only more revered in recent years.
Journey In Satchidananda is a landmark of spiritual jazz and is named for Coltrane’s guru Swami Satchidananda – a man whose influence on her was profound, but whose conduct was later called into question. The album features the beautiful harp runs and compositions of Coltrane alongside contributions from other luminaries such as Pharoah Sanders.
1. Miles Davis – A Kind of Blue
What is there to say about A Kind Of Blue that hasn’t already been said? I debated whether I could put anything else at the top of this list, but it simply wasn’t possible.
Released in 1959 and featuring stellar performances from fellow jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly and Cannonball Adderley, it is the highest selling jazz album ever made. It graces collections that feature little other jazz and its five tracks notably including ‘So What’ and ‘Blue in Green’ have all become certified jazz standards. Each note is perfect and to this day it sounds timeless.