3 Essential Early 60s Jazz Albums If You’re New to the Trailblazing Era

April 3, 2025 4:04 pm

Early 1960s jazz is some of the best there is. It lives on in legacy recordings as well as the next generation of jazz musicians finding inspiration from icons of the time. If you’re new to the genre and the style of the time period, here are three albums that are essential for getting started.

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Essential Early 60s Jazz Albums

Kind of Blue — Miles Davis

Legendary trumpeter Miles Davis released Kind of Blue in August 1959, leading into the era of 60s improvisational jazz. The album featured Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans accompanying Davis as he took lead on five tracks. The most popular song on the album is probably “Blue in Green,” which was originally a Bill Evans composition, as Evans was the pianist of Davis’ band at the time. Davis built this record on the style of modal jazz, which utilizes scales and modes and is often modulated to accompany chords. This use of modality and improvisational freedom later inspired John Coltrane for his solo work.

Time Out — The Dave Brubeck Quartet

The Dave Brubeck Quartet released Time Out in December 1959. It features the massively well-known hits “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo á la Turk.” Time Out came in at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and became the first jazz album to sell a million copies, according to a 60-year retrospective from Billboard. The album used unique time signatures inspired by Turkish street musicians that Brubeck saw performing while traveling abroad. Additionally, according to a report from The Independent, it’s possible that the track “Kathy’s Waltz” inspired the Beatles’ “All My Loving,” as the two have similar ending phrases. Time Out is a staple of cool and West Coast jazz, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet endures. However, Brubeck’s biggest hit, “Take Five,” wasn’t actually written by the band leader. Instead, it was saxophonist Paul Desmond who composed the beloved standard.

Sunday at the Village Vanguard — Bill Evans Trio

Released in 1961, Bill Evans’ Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a live jazz album that is often named one of the best live jazz recordings of all time. The album was recorded in June 1961 by Evans and his trio and released in October of that year. It comprised recordings from five sets performed at Village Vanguard in New York City. Unfortunately, bassist Scott LaFaro was killed in a car accident a little more than a week after the recording. Sunday at Village Vanguard was bookended by tracks composed by LaFaro, and featured others that included prominent solos. Not only is this an album that shows off Bill Evans’ talent on the piano and as a composer, but it also serves as a memorial of LaFaro’s final recordings.

Evans often praised LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian as being his best trio. According to a quote from a 1998 biography of Evans, he said, “I am thankful that we recorded that day, because it was the last time I saw Scott and the last time we would play together. When you have evolved a concept of playing which depends on the specific personalities of outstanding players, how do you start again when they are gone?”