Top 10 Best Jazz Songs

The Top Ten
Take Five - Dave Brubeck

This was a defining song. It was the first time a white person had created a successful jazz song. It introduced the style of modern jazz. Paul Desmond's solo is a catchy but skillful masterpiece in a 5/4 format.

Not to mention the cheekiness of Dave outweighs everything.

The most important jazz composition of all time, technically and for content. A blessing.

All has been said, but personally, I just get lost in the solo, wishing it would never end.

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

This is a beautiful, really, really beautiful song. Just listening to it makes me so happy. If you search the video on YouTube, Louis Armstrong also sings it so beautifully, smiling the whole time.

Beautiful lyrics, great, soulful singer.

This is just great, with an amazing message: "They're really saying/I love you" "What a Wonderful World." Armstrong is a wonderful singer and musician. My grandfather saw him perform this live.

Though for the beginning of my life, I was sure he was the space guy...

It is really a nice song. I have just begun to listen to jazz and came across this. It is soothing to the ears and sounds like a vintage classic.

Acknowledgment - John Coltrane Quartet

This has got to be one of the best songs ever recorded. It's just so beautiful and expressive. Trane was so beautiful.

Just the best one. What a Wonderful World is beautiful, but it is not jazz, it is pop.

Came to see this one in the top 3. I was not disappointed.

Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman and His Orchestra

It is impossible to hear this song without wanting to get up and dance. The thump of the drums, the edge of the brass, and the melodic sound of the saxophones come together beautifully in this instantly recognizable piece.

Name one bad thing about this piece. Got nothing?

Well, get up and dance, darn it.

So much energy. This piece really stands out.

My Favorite Things - Dave Brubeck
Caravan - Whiplash
All Blues - Kenny Burrell
Lazy Sunday - Duncan Lamont
Birdland - Maynard Ferguson

Such a good song! I wish I could play it (I don't have the chart). It starts with a great hook and makes you stop switching through your music to listen to it. Plus, it's played by one of the best trumpeters ever, the original scream trumpet.

Yes, Arturo Sandoval came after him, but even then, Maynard was a beast. This song is one of, if not his best song ever. It has such a good melody over a great chord progression. Again, I wish I could play it. It's so good.

This song has a great bass riff, excellent solos on multiple instruments, and a very memorable chorus. It's an enjoyable listen, and Ferguson's outstanding trumpet playing makes it all the more so.

Freddie Freeloader - Miles Davis

The Newcomers

? Slow, Love, Slow - Nightwish

A great jazz song by a metal band.

? All of Me - Billie Holiday

I can say that this is a great jazz song. Although it is more of a sad type, it is easily relatable, especially if you have experienced a painful heartbreak.

It is also very meaningful, especially the line, "You took the best, so why not take the rest?"

For me, every time I hear the song, it creates an image of me dancing with an imaginary partner at a distance, alone on a planet with no lights except a streetlamp and a wooden bench. I always remember how much I longed for someone. I want them to come back and fetch me after they left me alone and lonely.

It feels like I am stuck on a dark planet with nowhere to go but that bench and the streetlamp while dancing endlessly, hopelessly committed to waiting for that someone who will never and cannot come back.

The Contenders
Strange Fruit - Nina Simone

One of the best voices forgotten today. Real diva of blues and jazz when the word "diva" meant something.

So What - Miles Davis

A classic from a classic album. This song is new every time I listen to it. It is not the only song from 'Kind of Blue' that should be on the list, but it is my favorite.

This song, and the album it is on, influenced multiple jazz, pop, and rock musicians.

After you listen to this song, you can't help but be more knowledgeable about music.

As a trumpeter, there's no argument here. It's Miles.

Bags' Groove - Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson & Ray Brown
Song for My Father - Hermao Feriera

This song is very rhythmic and also has a great melody. Gets my vote.

The Apartment - Duncan Lamont
You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse

Died too young with such talent and a great voice. Love it when they redo oldies.

Feeling Good - Nina Simone

Very smooth, very sexy, very soulful, and VERY Nina Simone.

Cascades - Oliver Nelson
My Funny Valentine - Marian McPartland
O Pato - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd;
Let the Good Times Roll - Louis Jordan
The National Anthem - Radiohead

Bass rock, psychedelic, and jazz if you ask me. Yes, not jazz only, but as a whole, it builds up with jazz music and a jazzy feel. Both the calm kind and the more stressful kind.

Another jazz tune by them is Life In A Glass House. Pyramid Song (Egyptian Song) is inspired by the works of none other than Charles Mingus and his song Freedom.

What can I say about the most innovative and creative songwriter, Thom Yorke? A genius, and this tune proves it.

I was going to vote for Haitian Fight Song, but this counts apparently, and it is one of my favorite songs from my favorite band. Sorry, Mingus.

I Know What You're Putting Down - Louis Jordan
Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway
Take the A Train - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Nice and short, with a great trumpet solo and piano introduction!

8Load More
PSearch List