This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares his own personal system for figuring out what jazz to listen to next, without getting overwhelmed.
“I want to listen to more jazz, but I don’t know where to start” — I get this question constantly.
Jazz sounds pretty different depending on the era and the region, so it’s no surprise a lot of people aren’t sure where to dive in. I was the exact same way.
When people first recommended Charlie Parker or Miles Davis to me, I remember thinking, “I’m sure this is great, but why is everyone recommending horn players to me? I’m a bassist.”
It was only after listening to a lot more, over time, that I started to figure out what “my own kind of jazz” actually was.
So here’s the system I personally recommend for the “I don’t know what jazz to listen to” problem:
Contents
Buy one book of essential jazz albums, and listen to one page a day.
I’ve personally kept this habit going for over 10 years now.
Listen to every album in the book → buy the next essential-albums book → listen to all of those too. I’m still doing this on repeat.
There are still albums in there I don’t fully “get,” but this habit has made it a lot clearer over time what era, what mood, and which artists I actually gravitate toward.
If you’re stuck on “what should my first album even be,” starting this way is a solid option. Here’s the book I’d personally recommend (Japanese-language book, but the artist and album names are still useful as a reference): https://amzn.asia/d/0cazJwN7
But if you’re someone who still doesn’t know where to start even with that —
Eddie Higgins Trio, “You Are Too Beautiful”
is a great pick.
It’s genuinely easy to listen to while still having that real jazz atmosphere, and it was a favorite among the members of my online community, “Bebop Practice Group,” too.
It’s less “difficult and hard to follow” and more “huh, I like this” — a really good entry point. 🙂
Figuring out your own taste in jazz takes a lot of listening on your own — but a teacher who’s already done that listening can point you toward the right starting point a lot faster.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.