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| Top 10 Albums - DailyCD Version The staff at DailyCD, comprised of experienced musicologists and music writers, has carefully selected the very best for the "DailyCD Top 10 Albums" list. These 10 albums can provide a foundation from which anyone, from the music novice to the aficionado, can build a great music collection. With music that spans decades, genres and continents, these albums contain music for almost any occasion or mood. "We selected these albums because they are classics that span time and because of the influence these artists have had on their respective musical genres, " said Scott Blum, co-founder and CEO of DailyCD. "If you don't love them all from the beginning, you will definitely appreciate them over time. These are great albums to flesh out your music collection." 1. Aretha Franklin -- "I've Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" (1967). Producer Jerry Wexler famously encouraged restraint from Aretha Franklin's explosive charge, giving her gospel crescendos some of the most extraordinary dynamics ever captured on tape with "I've Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You." Her version of Otis Redding's "Respect, " first heard here, contributed to feminism, the civil rights movement, and the global reach of soul music. 2. Bill Evans -- "Waltz for Debby" (1961). On "Waltz for Debby, " Bill Evans' visionary playing, recorded live as one-third of his refined and subtle jazz trio, sounds even more otherworldly in the context of clinking glasses and subtle chatter. One of the most influential piano players of his generation, Evans never sounded more lyrical or more assured. 3. Boz Scaggs -- "Silk Degrees" (1976). Throughout vocalist-guitarist Boz Scaggs' "Silk Degrees, " a molten mix of Motown, disco, and blue-eyed soul blends flawlessly with on-the-spot arrangements and get-your-funk-out lyrics to create a sensory experience that pulsates from beginning to end. Scaggs' gift for crafting infectious melodies permeates this upbeat tour de force, and the album has left people tapping their feet since it was a staple of '70s AM radio. 4. Kruder & Dorfmeister -- "The K&D Sessions" (1998). Viennese DJs Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister helped teach the raver world to chill with this iced, heady concoction of trip-hop, drum and bass, and trance-tinged hip-hop. On "The K&D Sessions, " they used tracks from other DJs and bands as the canvas to create new works of art, mixing the otherworldly and retro-friendly into this true classic of downtempo electronica. 5. The Zombies -- "Odessey and Oracle" (1968). One of the '60s pop masterpieces, "Odessey and Oracle" was the final album from the British Invasion group the Zombies. The band filled their timeless farewell with hushed vocals, unforgettable melodies and gorgeous harmonies, and an air of melancholy and nostalgia, perhaps best demonstrated by the closer, which was to become a hit-song and a classic, "Time of the Season." 6. Harold Budd and Brian Eno -- "Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror" (1980). Recorded using an array of pianos, synthesizers, and treated sounds, "Ambient 2" is part of a series that gave "ambient" its name, but this instrumental album is much warmer than that name might suggest. Brian Eno and minimalist composer Harold Budd invented a whole new way of musical communication here, but they did so with an ear for natural beauty that transcends artsy pretension. 7. Sarah Vaughan -- "Sarah Vaughan" (1954). Set in an intimate small-group setting, the landmark "Sarah Vaughan" shows the singer's singer, and master jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown at their very best in this vocal jazz classic. Vaughan's warm, lush voice elegantly swoops and scats its way through standards like "Lullaby of Birdland, " while Brown's lyrical trumpet lines complement Vaughan's voice in ways that only masters can imagine. 8. Fred Neil -- "Fred Neil" (1967). Singer-songwriter Fred Neil had been a revered figure in the beatnik-favored coffee houses of New York's Greenwich Village folk music scene since the late 1950s. In the self-titled "Fred Neil, " his caramelized baritone and somber yet witty lyrics combine with blues-based rock to create one of the most beautiful, compelling, and enduring folk albums in music history. 9. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté -- "In the Heart of the Moon" (2005). West African blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, master of the 21-string gourd harp known as the kora, came together to pay tribute to their Malian heritage. "In the Heart of the Moon" was recorded during three unrehearsed, improvisatory two-hour sessions on the banks of the Niger River, in Bamako, Mali, and the results are tender, melodic, and magical. 10. Lucinda Williams -- "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (1998). Louisiana-bred Lucinda Williams' country-rock release, "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, " is a ride down the emotionally raw and rocky streets of passion and heartbreak. Her parched, mournful vocals, augmented by the warm sluicing of Dobro guitars, crystalline silver-steel leads, and a soldiering drummer's drive, pour to the core of her unvarnished feelings about love, family, and life. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |