Here's an interesting question which I hope may spark an interesting discussion.

One of the great things about jazz is that each performace is so personal and unique, to both the performer and the listener. Every now and then, something really magical happens, all the stars are in alignment, and someone absolutely NAILS a performace!

If you had to choose a single recorded performance by any jazz musician that, in your opinion, truly transcends the idiom and blows you away, who/what would you choose?

The first one that comes to my mind is Paul Gonsalves performance of Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue with Duke Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. There are plenty of other candidates and I'd be interested in hearing other opinions.

My own nomination is Bunny Berrigan's "I Can't Get Started" (1937) - often imitated, never duplicated!

What do you think? Other suggestions?

It's really a hard one. Because I really like vocals a lot, so I have to choose for Billie Holiday, when she first sang "strange fruit" in café sociaty club in 1939. But there are so many great jazzmusicians that come to mind.

I haven't seen a lot of those performances or heard. So it's quite hard to make an opinion about it.

I think of Duke Ellington in the early 40's, charlie parker between 1945 and 1949...and so many others.

for me it's eric dolphy's version of 'you don't know what love is' i think it was live in coppenhagen in '64... it was recorded a few weeks before he died... it's on his 'last date' album...

This is great - just the type of stuff I was hoping for. For example, I love Billie Holliday's Strange Fruit, but don't know if I've ever heard that specific recording. I'll look for it. Same with the Dolphy performance. Thanks, I hope others will post some of their favorites.

I'm going to modify my post because I just noticed that I interpreted the question incorrectly. What you're looking for is one specific song, correct?

In that case, I nominate the track "Nipples" by Peter Brötzmann from his 1969 album of the same name -- It is some of the most intense Free-Jazz that I've ever come across and it really blew me away upon first listen. Hearing the musicians playing off one another, stretching the limits of musical atonality and dissonance to its breaking point, it really is a rush.

Can't agree with you more.

The flute on that tune is perhaps the most amazing thing I've ever heard.

the flute solo at the end is the most transedental thing I've ever heard.

Why did Dolphy have to die so young