Some of the greatest Jazz there is - Check it Out!
(Artists listed are those who performed the tune, not necessarily who wrote it or popularized it.)

Straight Ahead Standards                                                   Vocal Jazz

Equinox  (John Coltrane)                                                                          Summertime (Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong)
Take Five  (Dave Brubeck)                                                                      Autumn Leaves (Sarah Vaughan/Scat)
All Blues (Miles Davis)                                                                            Goodbye Porkpie Hat (Judy Roberts singing)
Seven Steps to Heaven (Miles Davis)                                                        Goodbye Porkpie Hat (Joni Mitchell singing)
So What (Miles Davis - Album Version)                                                    Days of Wine and Roses (Frank Sinatra)
So What (Miles Davis - Uptempo Live Version - WOW!)                           Lullaby of Birdland (DeeDee Bridgewater)   
Four (Miles Davis - Uptempo)
Four (Miles - slow version)
Four (Anita O'Day - cool lyrics)
Israel (Bill Evans)
Nardis (Bill Evans)
Softly as in a Morning Sunrise (John Coltrane)
Stolen Moments (Lee Ritenour)
Syeedas Song Flute (John Coltrane)
Syeedas Song Flute (Medeski, Martin, and Wood)
Four on Six (Wes Montgomery)
Jordu (Clifford Brown)
In Walked Bud (Thelonius Monk)
Goodbye Porkpie Hat (Charles Mingus)
Lil' Darlin (George Benson)
Scarborough Faire (Herbie Hancock)
Joy Spring (Joe Pass)
Maiden Voyage (Herbie Hancock)
Days of Wine and Roses (Keith Jarrett)
Black Diamond (Roland Kirk)
Black Diamond (Ralph Moore)
Black Diamond (Jessica Williams)
Driftin' (Herbie Hancock)
Pent-Up House (Agrazing Mace)
Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman)
Bye Bye Blackbird (Miles Davis)


Latin Jazz                                                                     Fusion/Other Styles

                                                                                                     Harlequin (Weather Report)
Stablemates (Ron Carter)                                                                Creole Groove (Los Hombres Calientes)
Nica's Dream (Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers)                                 Compared to What (Less McCann and Eddie Harris)
Bolivia (Freddie Hubbard)                                                              The Chicken (James Brown)    The Popcorn (James Brown)
Senior Blues (Horace Silver)                                                           Chameleon (Nicholas Payton)                                                                                        
Caravan (Cedar Walton)
Recorda'me (Joe Henderson)
Spain (Chick Corea Original)
Light as a Feather (Chick Corea)
Yo Mama's Mambo (Horace Silver)
La Fiesta (Chick Corea and Stan Getz)



The Bad Plus - Here is a great band that not only can sizzle on typical jazz tunes, but has a unique way of giving rock tunes a jazz "tune up".
Admittedly, they tend to go into dissonant passages, and go off in some free and experimental themes which I don't really like, but the basic idea
is great.  I have seen them 3 times at Yoshi's, and when they play traditional jazz, they are THE hardest grooving band I have EVER seen.  I have seen them
perform Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen spirit", Rush's "Tom Sawyer",  Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
Heart of Glass (Blondie)
Tom sawyer (Rush)
Iron Man (Black Sabbath)


Eumir Deodato was a famous arranger back in the 70's whose claim to fame was creating jazz fusion tunes from classical and other works.

Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
Also Sprach Zarathusra (Theme to 2001 - Richard Strauss)
Knights in White Satin (Moody Blues)

He also did some great originals, September 13 is a super funky tune.

There is also a movement of players that have done Beethoven's 5th Symphony, called A Fifth of Beethoven.  Players range from disco funk to Ornette Coleman.

A Fifth of Beethoven - (Walter Murphy)
A Fifth of Beethoven - (Glitter-Ball)
A Fifth of Beethoven - (Ornette Coleman)


Bet you've never heard electric violin in Jazz....try Mahavishnu Orchestra! Try to pick out the electric violin, the electric guitar, and the synthesizer.

Birds of Fire (Count three bars of three)
Miles Beyond (A Miles Davis tune that I can't find performed by Miles himself)
One Word (Just a sizzling hot tune)
Open Country Joy (Hmm, well, interesting violin work)


Music of the week:  Phish!
Superb musicians who play with funk, jazz, and zappa-esque ideas
Notice the way the music travels, not adhering to typical forms
Quartet - Piano, Bass, Guitar, and Drums
Later releases lost the originality, "sold out" to pop influences
Look for psychedelic or circus-like themes that develop into deep grooves
Listen to all of each song, themes are rarely repeated.
Good albums: Lawn Boy, Junta, Rift, Picture of Nectar

You Enjoy Myself
David Bowie
Bathtub Gin
Divided Sky
Manteca (Dizzy Gillespie standard)
Maze
Reba (Get past the Baggit Taggit, and you're in for a real treat)
Split Open and Melt (great horn arrangement)

Kamal's Musical Biography

Although Kamal Freiha has been playing some sort of musical instrument since age 9, he found his calling during college, 11 years ago, as a jazz drumset player.  Mostly self taught, he has been able to take the intermittent lessons he has had and turn them into a disciplined and academic base of self-learning and exploration as a musical artist. 

Born overseas and raised right here in the bay area, Kamal is no stranger to academics.  He is currently finishing his doctoral degree in clinical psychology, a field which he hopes to augment with his musical talent.

It was John Cotrane and Elvin Jones, in the tune Equinox, which first turned Kamal on to Jazz just two years after picking up the drum set.  He hasn't looked back since.  In terms of rhythm, its drummers like Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins, and Tony Williams which have given him that rare sense of Be-Bop and Hard-Bop drumming.  Players such as Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette have helped him to recognize the eclectic and intellectual sides of drum set artistry.  Other favorite jazz players include Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorius, Chick Corea, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Airto Moriera, and so many others.

Kamal says passionately "Since being a musician is a hobby to me, I don't have to worry about the critics and the expectations that go along with professional musicianship.  I have started in on a life-long quest of playing drumset for fun and thrills, and am able to develop my own unique sound in my own time."