Curated by: Matt Hill of The Floozies

7. Herbie Hancock - Thrust

I feel like Herbie Hancock is the closest thing we have to a modern Beethoven. He pretty much reinvents every musical genre whenever he decides to play it. And honestly I could sub in Head Hunters instead of Thrust here and still be fine with it. What gave Thrust the nod for me is the song "Butterfly." Beautiful song, super fun to play. Really can't go wrong with any Herbie album though.

6. Amon Tobin - Supermodified

This one is intense. I also like ISAM and Foley Room, but man this album can make you trip while you're sober. Incredible stuff. The track "Slowly" is particularly cool. Also Amon Tobin is the first guy I've heard sample Buddy Rich in a way that's challenging and still musical. Hearing this made me really want to explore new sounds and different ways of thinking about music, which was wonderfully inspirational.

5. Wayne Goins - Bluesin with the B3

Wayne Goins is a monstrous guitar player. I learned so much from transcribing his recordings. I also actually took lessons from him and he has a wealth of knowledge about jazz and guitar and music in general. One of the best guitar players I've ever met or played with and I still put his stuff on when I want to get inspired. It's amazing how you can hear new things even after you've pored over an album year after year.