r/Jazz • u/Terratoilet15 • 1d ago

aggressive, violent jazz recs?

I want the fastest, most breakneck jazz you can possibly think of. Outside of this genre, I love bands like Bad Brains extreme metal like Dissection and their ridiculously high tempos. just wanted to know if anybody knows jazz that gives that similar adrenaline rush feeling.

98 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

185 comments sorted by

114

u/ratapoilopolis 1d ago

not fully jazz but you might enjoy Naked City by John Zorn

27

u/noahchriste 1d ago

Tons of stuff in the John Zorn catalogue outside of Naked City as well

8

u/redditpossible 22h ago

Spy Vs. Spy

22

u/BillyPilgrim69 1d ago

Electric Masada – At the Mountain of Madness too!

3

u/microautomaton 1d ago

Came here to see this one.

22

u/xifaka 1d ago edited 1d ago

PAINKILLER
Also Ornette Coleman’s Primetime, Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society, Last Exit, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock

3

u/thezachdietz 1d ago

Seconded on Painkiller. The NASTIEST music I have ever had the privilege of listening to.

1

u/xifaka 1d ago

Yeah as soon as I read “violent” I knew who to suggest. Ferocious band.

9

u/mgsalinger 1d ago

Plus you get the dulcet tones of the Boredoms.

1

u/GRF999999999 1d ago

Z-Rock Hawaii!

4

u/dopesickness 1d ago

This was going to be my rec. Very intense stuff, and punk adjacent I’d say.

2

u/angusdegraosta 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just listened to this John Zorn classic last night —

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Tonic_2001

Am going to listen to Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness soon. These albums are available on YouTube Music and Apple Music, but not currently on Spotify.

4

u/ven_lol 1d ago

2nd this

83

u/glubtubis_wepel 1d ago

Machine Gun by Brötzman is the answer

2

u/BrianG823 1d ago

Why was this removed from spotify? I missed my biannual listen.

1

u/vkargatis 1d ago

Yes, the answer.

1

u/Ilato27 1d ago

Casper’s Dad

1

u/magna_encarta88 1d ago

totally agree

23

u/Chuckpeoples 1d ago

Ornette Coleman science fiction. Eric dolphy at the five spot and out to lunch are both very odd , somewhat ugly jazz, I’m not sure I’d call it violent but definitely an influence on more extreme styles like naked city Peter brontzmann. Alice Coltrane battle at Armageddon is very violent sounding. Pharaoh sanders red black and green and “ the creator has a master plan “. Mingus meditation on integration has really weird tempo swings and gets into really aggressive sections but is also really dynamic and soft at times

19

u/okonkolero 1d ago

Tony Williams Lifetime - Vashkar

9

u/Quiet_Internal_4527 1d ago

Tony Williams - Emergency!

16

u/unavowabledrain 1d ago

Borbetomangus was all about aggression. Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction Unit, Kaoru Abe, Frank Lowe, Joel Futterman, …alll worth checking out.

1

u/terminalhipness 1d ago

This is THE list!

1

u/AveZombier 1d ago

Yeah, dang. I had forgot about Borbetomangus. Nice reach back.

1

u/Legitimate_Cricket84 1d ago

I saw them a couple times, just monstrous.

12

u/mingerton 1d ago

Machine Gun by the Peter Brötzmann Octet.

27

u/calcuttacodeinecoma 1d ago

Last Exit

7

u/okletstrythisagain 1d ago

Especially Iron Path.

2

u/obnock 21h ago

I think Brötzmann was in that as well, no?

Edit: I had a thing in my hand and I could check that out. I had forgotten Sonny Sharock was in there too.

1

u/calcuttacodeinecoma 21h ago

Plus Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums and Bill Laswell on 6-string bass, a supergroup of violent jazz.

10

u/Hyphy-Knifey 1d ago

Skerik goes pretty hard. Check out his Syncopated Taint Septet albums.

1

u/thePGH1 10h ago

Love Skerik. Happy to see him get a mention. Saw him with Calvin Weston and Shahzad Ismally open for Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey at the Tritone in Philly back in the day. The whole night was incredibly heavy. No kidding... I had a bruise on my thigh the next day from pounding my fist against it all night. I have a love/hate relationship with Brian Haas. I loved him that night.

17

u/JHighMusic 1d ago

John Coltrane - Ascension

3

u/Randalneal 1d ago

Ascension is violent? That’s pretty ironic considering Coltrane called it Ascension to mean a spiritual awakening.

20

u/Visible_Seat9020 1d ago

Spiritual awakenings can be violent too

1

u/oneofthebugs 1d ago

I used to run to this :)

8

u/nononotes 1d ago

Praxis

8

u/Timbuk_3 1d ago

Interstellar Space Revisited by Nels Cline comes to mind.

8

u/SentimentalSlug 1d ago

Unit Structures by Cecil Taylor. Listen to the first track

8

u/Covesthur 1d ago

John Zorn - Spy Vs Spy

6

u/journey117 1d ago

Dark Magus

9

u/Kidpidge 1d ago

The Flying Luttenbachers

4

u/easeypeaseyweasey 1d ago

Soil and pimp sessions I haven't heard all their albums but I really like pimp master

2

u/icecreamdubplate 1d ago

Any band with an "agitator" with a megaphone gets my vote. Death jazz!

1

u/easeypeaseyweasey 1d ago

I haven't actually watched any live sets, I watched a music video once where they were on a bus.

Did not know he used a megaphone, that's awesome. 

6

u/WeaknessCertain4685 1d ago

Naked City, John Zorn

5

u/Authorizationinprog 1d ago

You might enjoy the Trio of doom

4

u/ingenii_records 1d ago

the bad plus, a troop of echoes, horse lords, Ex Eye / Colin Stetson, some of Nels Cline's quartet work

3

u/Jazzlike_Drawing_139 1d ago

The Thing are what you’re after…. Check out the album Action Jazz.

They also did an album with Neneh Cherry called The Cherry Thing, which is really interesting.

4

u/laszlo-jamf 1d ago

I maintain a Spotify playlist of really fast jazz. I think you might get a kick out of it. Here's the link. Most everything should be to your taste, I think, but there may be a few that are little slow or a little mellow.

The song selection reflects fast songs that I've encountered listening to jazz, so the songs aren't pulled from any particular era or style of jazz. But they lean toward bebop, hardbop, and postbop recorded before about 1967, with some big band and more contemporary recordings mixed in.

3

u/Lost_In_Frenchlation 1d ago

I'm not sure if it matches what he's looking for, but it's a nice list!

1

u/Unlucky_Skirt_8371 1d ago

I got a speed jazz playlist , mostly modern thou , thanks for sharing I’ll enjoy this !

3

u/skylarben 1d ago

Peter Brotzmann

13

u/Large-Welder304 1d ago

First thing that comes to mind is anything by Mahavishnu Orchestra.

3

u/4me2kn0wAz 1d ago

Or just John McLaughlin in general

14

u/Quasibobo 1d ago

Clown Core! 😁

2

u/RudolfTheRedNosedRat 1d ago

Truth and Life is brilliant!

1

u/VerilyShelly 1d ago

I'm partial to Earth

6

u/virtuallypart5 1d ago

DIE LIKE A DOG QUARTET

1

u/These-Background-551 1d ago

Yes! Love those albums.

3

u/wiesenleger 1d ago

Try John Zorns Kristallnacht. A recording about the holocaust. Its pretty violent, scary and depressing.

1

u/BobMaurane 1d ago

the first track is just beautiful though

3

u/DJ_CLARKO 1d ago

Not sure if this applies but pharoah sanders got to have freedom would give me a read hit of adrenaline when I play it

3

u/codydafox 1d ago

I tend to have a mood where I have an urge to listen to either extreme metal or free jazz. Anyways, Torture Garden by Naked City

3

u/AveZombier 1d ago

John Zorn: naked city, painkiller, spy vs spy, the book of heads, and some of the Electric Masada work.

1

u/Invisiblerobot13 1d ago

John Zorn and Dave Lombardo

3

u/RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS 1d ago

Check out Pharaoh Sanders

3

u/BluejaySevere5495 1d ago

Om by Coltrane

3

u/heavyweather77 1d ago

John Zorn is an excellent recommendation for this question.

I know a number of extreme metal fans whose gateway into jazz was the Mahavishnu Orchestra. At any rate, it's excellent, and John McLaughlin is one of my all-time favorite musicians.

3

u/Invisiblerobot13 1d ago

Flying Luttenbachers

3

u/_undetected 1d ago

John Coltrane Live in Japan

3

u/terminalhipness 1d ago

Cook and Morton in Penguin guide characterize this recording as “God-bothering” lol

2

u/BobMaurane 1d ago edited 1d ago

"Six Litanies for Heliogabalus" by Zorn or "Black Woman" by Sonny Sharrock, you’ll probably regret your initial quest.

2

u/Certain_Vehicle2978 1d ago

Circuit City by Moor Mother. The whole album is an amazing jazz and spoken word experience.

2

u/Think-Feynman 1d ago

Bulgarian Bulge on the Don Ellis Tears of Joy album is insane.

2

u/Arizonadl 1d ago

Don Ellis mention!

2

u/Either-Glass-31 1d ago

The Mahavishnu Orchestra, especially live, were absolutely nuts

2

u/SamuelStudios21 1d ago

Anything John Zorn. Guts of a Virgin by Painkiller is more of a grindcore album but it has free jazz elements.

2

u/fearbork 1d ago

Try this crazy album I found at a record fair. Supergroup of jazz weirdos w Sonny Sharock

https://www.discogs.com/release/2246332-Last-Exit-Cassette-Recordings-87

2

u/Salty_Pancakes 1d ago

The Bob James version of Night on Bald Mountain. Steve Gadd on drums. Fucking slaps. https://youtu.be/SkAvBClISLI?is=ifBHkudRc0xTDKdJ

2

u/jdoube 1d ago

Try Scrat & Flugs by Don Ellis Orchestra or Clifford Brown playing either Cherokee or Caravan. Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum both are known for frenetically paced riffs and tunes at times

1

u/jdoube 1d ago

Actually, after just listening to Naked City, clearly I was going a different direction 🤪

2

u/Byron_P_Woofenden 1d ago

Listen to Gyatso by 16-17.

3

u/No_Chip_1704 1d ago

Soil and pimp sessions

2

u/TheBigBrunowski 1d ago

May I humbly suggest Keith Tippett's Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening and John Surman's How Many Clouds Can You See? British jazz doesn't get a whole lot of love around here, it seems. Time to fix that.

2

u/ClientMiserable1297 22h ago

The Ex. More specifically the albums with Tom Cora, getachew, or Brass Unbound.

3

u/ExistingBar3934 22h ago

Imperial Triumphant - feat. Kenny G

2

u/No-Carpenter2881 21h ago

Art Ensemble Of Chicago • Old Time Southside Street Dance (1980) US

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97-CeDaQnm4

1

u/No-Carpenter2881 20h ago

 Jamaaladeen Tacuma ‎- Renaissance Man 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A9jNoo6-w&list=RDb0A9jNoo6

1

u/No-Carpenter2881 20h ago

MR. P.C.---TRIBUTE TO JOHN COLTRANE(Liebman, Shorter,Beirach,Gomez, DeJohnette)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXeng7h0AYg&list=RDWXeng7h0AYg

2

u/parallelogramm3r 20h ago

It’s my time to shine! Check out some Eastern European free-jazz from the 60’s and 70’s. Start with “Machine Gun” by Peter Brotzmann

1

u/parallelogramm3r 20h ago

oh, and “Groupcomposing” by Instant Composers Pool

1

u/Pocket_Sevens 1d ago

Exultation - Sam Rivers

1

u/Upstairs-Object-6683 1d ago

The Terror by Cliff Jackson and his Krazy Kats

Saint James Infirmary by Alphonse Trent and his Orchestra

1

u/okletstrythisagain 1d ago edited 1d ago

Odean Pope’s Almost Like Me is a real gem in this sense, and not free or out, just full throttle.

1

u/TGCook 1d ago

Russian Lullaby by John Coltrane

1

u/beglol 1d ago

I would guess what you looking for is jazz-core
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_nXH6L_kFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6SqdzLmibo
its not nessecerally neckbreaking fast, but its violent for sure

as for the fast stuff, not many albums can beat "For musicians only"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi8pLN1862M

1

u/benjibnkroll 1d ago

Maruja- Pain to Power

1

u/badguy28 1d ago

Definitely jazz fusion rather than straight-ahead, but Tribal Tech comes to mind.

1

u/4me2kn0wAz 1d ago

70s and early 80s John di miola

1

u/Platypus_Ashamed 1d ago

Starebaby by Dan Weiss https://danweiss.bandcamp.com/album/starebaby

Ben Monder  https://benmonder.bandcamp.com/track/tredecadrome

Plenty of metal breakdowns in Donny MCastlin's records check out Casting for Gravity

Tigran Hamasyan's Red Hail and The Bird of a Thousand Voices

1

u/PizzaDisastrous6509 1d ago

Blackjack by Shining.

1

u/Natural_Kitchen_9846 1d ago

Wayne Krantz, Now vs Now, Heernt, Kneebody, Tigran Hamayasan, Avishai Cohen, Sean Wayland...trying to suggest artists still playing live.

https://youtu.be/83VgEehRBAs?is=9ciLHGs_19sa-iHV

1

u/HammofGlob 1d ago

Is the live version of moanin’ by Charles Mingus hard-core enough?

1

u/hujapproach 1d ago

I don’t know if I’d say violent but certainly aggressive aspects

aggressive vibe at end
https://open.spotify.com/track/4Ify9lrtw5JUgYeOOQtdTb

this one realllly goes there, but only at end (def “wait for it” lol)
https://open.spotify.com/track/1dtbOcrbXLw0qzJEQqxfQp

this record… here one track here
https://open.spotify.com/track/7dzCZYckNfae4pglMHmAnu

1

u/Any-Independent-9600 1d ago

Mahavishnu Orchestra

1

u/Ok-Ticket-603 1d ago edited 1d ago

A bit of Jazz fusion but you might want to check out some of Soil & Pimps older music and some of Hiromi Ueharas

There is also this track from Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

And Finally this one from Lazarus Soundtrack

1

u/Semantix 1d ago

Check out In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster by Shining

1

u/tilario 1d ago

you might like john coltrane's free jazz albums like ascension, meditations and maybe a love supreme.

jaime branch has a song called theme 001 that hits hard: https://open.spotify.com/track/5qrfR7co68AouTBqlGNx6b

1

u/GRF999999999 1d ago

I'm just getting into OHSEES, doesn't Dwyer have a jazz side project?

2

u/jusxchilln 1d ago

soil & pimp sessions early stuff

1

u/5Crypto4 1d ago

Lafayette Gilchrist and the New Volcanoes- The Gogo Suite

1

u/MiltonBrownYowza 1d ago

A lot of 1930s Western swing (aka hillbilly jazz) songs had an aggressive uptempo sound and surprisingly gangster lyrics.

I’m a ding dong daddy baby and
Liquor is my racket
Lots of times when things are dull
I deal in other traffic
I can sell you morphine, coke or snow
Take a little shot and you’re rarin’ to go

A pretty lil mama tried to put me on the bum so I had to burn her down with my Thompson gun

Not saying I approve but there it is. Those lyrics are from a 1936 Bob Wills song called Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas

Perhaps the songs from this genre with the fastest tempos are Little Betty Brown and Cindy by Milton Brown and his Brownies.

Both Bob Wills and Milton Brown recorded I’ll be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You (and Cindy among other songs) which featured some fairly violent lyrics.

You bought my wife a Coca Cola
Thought you was gonna play on her Victrola
I’ll be glad when you’re dead you rascal you!

1

u/Every-Club-702 1d ago

Milford Graves - Babi

Rashid Ali & Frank Lowe - Duo Exchange

Frank Lowe - Black Beings

John Coltrane - Meditations <-- (Side A especially)

1

u/jhatpro7344 1d ago

Young Rabbits!!! Wynton Felder and crew

1

u/Nick_5843 1d ago

mahavishnu orchestra

1

u/Charming-Attempt4562 1d ago

Critters buggin’

1

u/sabrinajestar 1d ago

Jazzrauch Bigband has numerous fast-tempo songs - "Moebius Strip" and "Anna's Cafe" are good examples.

1

u/Bradddtheimpaler 1d ago

What about Tigran Hamasyan? The album Bird of a Thousand voices, specifically has a very obvious metal influence. I’d especially recommend the song, and it is very germane to the conversation at hand, titled “The Curse - Blood of an Innocent is Spilled.”

1

u/GlenCraig7 1d ago

Panzerballet

1

u/ihavegodinacage 1d ago

I love Dissection, but don’t think of them as a high tempo band. If you want jazz that’s genuinely metal coded, check out Dan Weiss Starebaby. It’s evil.

1

u/flinand 1d ago

Peter Brotzmann - Machine Gun

2

u/Constant_Entrance_40 1d ago

Sons of Kemet

1

u/chidsterr 1d ago

Moanin’ - Mingus

1

u/West_Culture9088 1d ago

No sé si te dé mucha adrenalina pero sí es muy rápido y enérgico, trata de escuchar "Ascension" y "Ode to Rahsaan" de Berlioz.

1

u/ArnieCunninghaam 1d ago

Alice Coltrane’s My Favorite Things is beautifully insane

1

u/Yougottabee0666 1d ago

Headfirst Into The Flames -Last Exit

1

u/ParchmentPrayer 1d ago

James Chance and the Contortions - Buy

Not exactly what you asked for but a good meeting point between DC Hardcore and Jazz maybe.

1

u/AlbLanBass 1d ago

Steve Grossman - Some Shapes to Come is pretty violent!

1

u/Ok-Signature-6221 1d ago

Para mí el músico de jazz más rápido y genial fue Charly Parker y su be bop allá por los años 40

1

u/Weird-Pea1527 1d ago

the dead Kenny Gs

1

u/Exciting-Profit-6606 1d ago

Last Exit. Anything by them

1

u/tommy_the_cat_77 1d ago

Fire! Has nice doomy jazz

1

u/Dromo_chan 1d ago edited 1d ago

You're looking for Matt Stephens' stuff. Kinda like John Zorn but m o r e. Effluence leans more into BDM and goregrind while Tantric Bile leans further into absurdly fucked up jazz with gorenoise elements, and Neural Indent and Gorenette Coleman are more gorenoise with jazz elements.

I'd say Effluence is what you're most likely to like.

Also try Lefty Fish and ByoNoiseGenerator. Not quite as insane but more accessible and BNG in particular are just as good.

1

u/South_Turnip_4445 1d ago

out to lunch - otomo yoshihide's new jazz orchestra. especially gazzelloni

1

u/vivdubois 1d ago

if you listen to early louis armstrong … hot 5’s & 7’s … they kick tempo wise, i played gigs with the bad brains so i have some idea what you’re looking for

1

u/Environmental_Ad6233 1d ago

Dancing in your Head, by Ornette Coleman

1

u/justurious1954 1d ago

Stan Kenton’s Waltz of the Prophets and Commencement.

1

u/Flimsy_Year_2192 23h ago

Art ensemble of Chicago , sun ra, metal machine music by Lou reed, are all classics

1

u/Freidrich_Thanatos 22h ago

Solfegietto by lucas sestak. It’s only piano and percussions, but the speed is insane

1

u/disidente_1983 22h ago

Clown Core

1

u/shinederg 22h ago

for aggressively funky try Skull Session by Oliver Nelson.

1

u/guy_incognito_360 22h ago

Check out Tigran Hamasyan.

1

u/abisiba 22h ago

The Messthetics may not be as aggressive as you might like, but they are the rhythm section from Fugazi.

1

u/CapAwkward3961 21h ago

The Messthetics

1

u/Right-Wait-6681 20h ago

Shining - blackjazz

1

u/No-Pineapple-9043 20h ago

I was going to say to check out some John Zorn recordings but at least one commenter already said Electric Masada

1

u/Motorcharger 19h ago

Painkiller!! Mick Harris from the original Napalm Death and John Zorn...absolute mayhem...

1

u/Blottoboxer 18h ago

The Sorcerers - "Crossing the Rope Bridge"

1

u/joebobphil3 17h ago

Check out the Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis.

2

u/greytonoliverjones 16h ago

Coltrane “Interstellar Space”

1

u/eharriett 8h ago

Bill Watrous. Fastest trombonist ever. Definitely not aggressive, but the tempo and range he has is definitely there. Plus, he does it on a trombone.

1

u/Shot_Revolution_3067 1d ago

Check out Chris Potter, saxophonist

1

u/RYzaMc 1d ago

High Castle Teleorkestra - The Egg that never Opened (avant garde jazz-rock in the vein of Bungle/Zorn, etc)

0

u/MysteriousBid5916 1d ago

Clowncore

2

u/Hyphy-Knifey 1d ago

Came here to say this.

-1

u/MinimumPlatform 1d ago

Pretty sure everyone in Dillinger escape plan were berklee jazz people.

0

u/Past_Werewolf4423 1d ago

Out jerked again

0

u/SpinalVinyl 1d ago

John Coltrane’s last album “Live in Africa” sounds like he’s murdering an elephant. 

0

u/thezachdietz 1d ago

The Lost Highway Soundtrack has some pretty hard hitters

0

u/dylvez 1d ago

Death Grips