100 greatest jazz albums of all time?

just read a nonsensical such list on amazon. if there was a bucket near me, i would puke in it. ornette's the shape of jazz to come was number 1. bela fleck, herb alpert, wynton my sore ass, keith jarrett, and a chet baker vocal album were all on the list, as well as a bunch of other bizarre choices. missing? i can't even begin to tell you. no hank mobley, no george russell, no sonny stitt, no booker ervin,no joe henderson, no harold land, no sonny rollins other than live at the village vanguard, no monk on riverside, no bird on savoy or dial, no wardell gray, no jackie mclean, no zoot sims, no gene ammons, no coltrane on prestige, no dolphy other than out to lunch. the whole idea of a list like this is stupid. there have been thousands of great jazz records, so no list of 100 can possibly begin to encompass even a tiny percentage of them. every jack off who makes such a list always has too many vocal albums on it, and always has too many records made since 1970. this is obviously a marketing ploy, but that doesn't make it any better. what bullshit.

but...if i were to make such a list...

where to start? first of all, by admitting that the concept is bankrupt. as shakespeare said "comparisons are odious." but, i suppose one could make a list that could represent artists and albums that could both be on the list but also point the way to albums that aren't on the list. soul station would point the way to roll call, happy blues to groove blues, the space book to freedom book. if the list did such work, it wouldn't be so bad. however, in general, it is a bankrupt concept. by definition, such a list favors those who are already well known, and therefore, serves no educational purpose. a list called "100 great jazz albums that should be better known" wouldn't be so bad, but of course there are thousands of jazz albums that should be better known. however, if such a list made even a few people listen to tina brooks, ike quebec, joe harriot, louis smith, or brew moore, to name a few, it would serve a good purpose.

how about the 100 worst lists of all time. my vote for number 1? the list of the 100 greatest jazz albums on amazon.