Dorothy Ashby · 1968 · She married the harp to a funk rhythm section and made it sound like the most natural thing in the world.

Tim Buckley · 1967 · Tim Buckley's second album found him turning his back on pure folk and into a darker, orchestral world that his voice could barely contain.

Leonard Cohen · 1967 · The voice you either fall into or never understand — but the writing is beyond question.

The Jeff Beck Group · 1968 · Six months before Led Zeppelin I, four London sessions, and a band of future legends still learning when to swing and when to brawl.

Led Zeppelin · 1969 · It's the sound of four guys who could barely catch their breath, and that's exactly why it's untouchable.

Odetta · 1960 · She married the American folk tradition and made a live album that still dares you to breathe.

Bob Dylan · 1963 · He was 21, wearing a corduroy cap, and about to spend the rest of the century answering for the songs he wrote in one winter.

Judy Collins · 1961 · Judy Collins before she was anybody. Just a voice, a guitar, and songs that had been around for centuries.

Joan Baez · 1960 · She walked into a hotel room and changed folk music forever.

The Millennium · 1968 · Curt Boettcher assembled a dream studio team and this is the only record they left behind.

Duke Ellington · 1963 · Ellington, Mingus, and Roach in a room with the microphones on — it was never going to be polite.

Joe Henderson · 1967 · Orrin Keepnews let them set up in a semicircle with no isolation, and you can hear Henderson's foot tapping on the floor.

McCoy Tyner · 1967 · This is where McCoy Tyner proved he didn't need a sideman credit to make a masterpiece.

Bobby Hutcherson · 1966 · Herbie Hancock plays piano on this session like he's auditioning for a gig that hasn't been invented yet.

Bobby Hutcherson · 1968 · Van Gelder’s crispest vibraphone sound, Henderson’s tenor in full stride, and a rhythm section that never rushes. The one that gets overlooked because it came out in a weird year for Blue Note.

Van Morrison · 1968 · Van Morrison walked into Century Sound Studios with a guitar and a notebook and walked out with something nobody had ever heard before.

Laura Nyro · 1969 · She married the grit of New York to the ache of gospel and called it a tendaberry.

Antonio Carlos Jobim · 1967 · Claus Ogerman’s strings don’t just accompany Jobim’s piano — they complete thoughts he could only hint at.

Frank Sinatra · 1964 · Sinatra never marked a vocal take — he sang every pass like it was being pressed into vinyl that night. The band had to earn the right to keep up.

Frank Sinatra · 1961 · He bet on himself and won.