This week I’m working on some new tracks and since I have no new MP3s of my own so I’d like to feature some free jazz mp3 downloads. I actually majored in Jazz at the The Hartford Conservatory and the Hartt School of Music but if you have downloaded or listened to my music, you’ll know that’s not one of the styles I write in. However, I have a huge appreciation for Jazz and the knowledge I gained from the study of it has helped me understand the underlying theory behind whatever pop rock songs or even techno rhythms I write.
How to Search for Free Jazz Music
The first thing I learned about finding free Jazz music online is to do a Google search like this “Index of Jazz MP3″ and this will take you right to the actual directories where the MP3 files of hundreds of artists exist. By the way, the same thing applies to any style like “Index of Techno MP3″. Now the legality of what you find is at your own risk, but still pretty cool!
Larry Corban - Jazz Guitarist and Composer
Website: LarryCorban.com (go to “More MP3s” section for lots of music)
I met Larry at the Peddie School where we were supposed to be attending high school but basically just jammed all the time. He is originally from Middletown, NJ. When he heard Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino he was taken with jazz guitar and ended up going to Ithaca College of Music.
Since then he has had all kinds of interesting gigs while living in New York City. These include cruise ships, Broadway shows and sitting on all kinds of cool sessions, like the one we went to at Corio Lounge in Manhattan a few weeks ago.
After studying with greats like Pat Martino and Mick Goodrick he now teaches guitar. He has a unique chording style that he combines with crisp well-versed lines and a repertoire of standards, bebop, not to mention kickin fusion that you can check out on his site.
Free MP3 Download: On The Fly.MP3 (with permission for personal use from artist)
He gave me this MP3 you can download called “On The Fly”. Its a poppin, gritty instrumental piece with swinging horns belting out solid improvisation and melody. Larry’s guitar has a nice natural tone that highlights chord comping he pushes to the edge.
Jazztimes.com Free MP3 Section
The magazine JazzTimes has a long reputable history and it actually started as a small newsletter in a record store. Now its one of the biggest online purveyors of Jazz and they have a great free mp3 section here at the Jazztimes Website. You’ll have to register to get at the files but then they promise there are “no strings attached”.
AllAboutJazz.com Song Downloads
This is a fan-based site oriented to the world-wide scene of Jazz. It’s amazing how the style has promulgated internationally, even before the help of the Internet. Well AllAboutJazz.com aims to bring on all the jazz global news and research you can possibly take in. I get the sense that the site is run by people truly passionate about the genre and all the interactive features there make it well worth signing up to get to the All About Jazz downloads section.
I ran across allot of other sources for Jazz music, like the Internet Archive for instance, but these are probably more than enough to keep busy for a while!
Thanks for reading. Peace, Dan
