Marc Greilsamer's Favorite CDs Part 1

Marc Greilsamer, long-time music editor with Amazon has left them. As a parting gift, he has prepared a list of what he calls "A Few All-Time Favorites"

This is a rich, eclectic collection of music, spanning many genres and periods - a true music odyssey and essential listening.

The 40 entries, broken into two posts: (Part 2 of the list here)

1. Mingus Ah Um: Charlie Mingus briefly recorded with Columbia Records in 1959 - this set of tracks is from that period and has some real special rarities - one of the best jazz cuts around.

2. Never No Lament the Blanton-Webster Band: Marc calls this Duke Ellington album from his 1940 RCA recordings "Some of the best American music ever recorded".

3. A Love Supreme: Marc says "this Coltrane opus is about as passionate as music gets". A powerful prayer. set to rich, glorious music

4. Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet Featuring the young John Coltrane, this is a short introduction to the music of Miles, trumpets, bebop, drums and all.

5. Being There: Wilco's more comprehensible period album combines pop, acoustic and guitar-rich rock, with varied emotions layering the intense sound and lyrics.

6. Koola Lobitos 1964-1968/The '69 Los Angeles Sessions: This combination of Afro-beat, jazz and groove is from the band later named Nigeria 70

7. Motherlode: James Brown does his funky thing, with ants in his pants

8. Memories Blues from Doc Watson - ballads, steady vocals and bluegrass.

9. Brown's Ferry Blues: Marc calls the Delmore Brothers 'one of the great underappreciated duos in country', dealing with Depression-era dreams of trains, traveling and the future.

10. Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 2: Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys combine swing, country, hillbilly, black, white and much more to define Western Swing. A couple of free downloads of their songs also on Amazon.

11. Look What Thoughts Will Do: Lefty Frizell does more than honky-tonk, with a truly wonderful voice.

12. American Recordings: Some uncommon Johnny Cash tracks, covering many styles - a real surprise in a world of canned country

13. Workout: Hank Mobley's blues workout blows

14. Featuring Charlie Christian: 1939-41: Chamber Jazz with guitar solos - a Benny Goodman essential.

15. Sarah Vaughan W/ Clifford Brown: Romantic, soulful ballads from the 1950s - remastered.

16. Big Boi and Dre Present...Outkast:: Andre 3000 from Outkast was voted "The World's Sexiest Vegetarian" in 2004. This is a compilation album from a slightly earlier period in their career.

17. Bob Dylan - Limited Edition Catalog Box Set: This massive 16-disc, all-SACD collection is chosen by Marc because 'How can you choose just one Dylan album?'

18. Blues from The Gutter: Pianist Jack Dupree delivers the blues.

19. The Unseen: Creative hip-hop from the Madlib, featuring Melvin Van Peebles's vocals, odd rhyming, zany stuff

20. It Still Moves: REM-style road trip music from My Morning Jacket. The album title, of course, is a reference to the apocryphal last words of Galileo ("eppur si muove")