I think billie holiday is great

1920s:

Louis Armstrong-Hot Fives And Sevens
Jelly Roll Morton-The Pearls
Bix Beiderbecke-At The Jazz Band Ball
Duke Ellington-The Okeh Ellington

1930s:

Django Reinhardt-Complete Early Recordings
Mills Brothers-1930s Recordings
Count Basie-Complete Decca
Cab Calloway-Early Years:1930-34

1940s:

Duke Ellington-Blanton-Webster Band
Charlie Parker-Savoy/Dial Masters
Thelonious Monk-Genius Of Modern Music vols 1 and 2
Billie Holiday-Complete Decca

1950s:

Miles Davis-Kind Of Blue
Johnny Griffin-A Blowin Session
John Coltrane-Giant Steps
Sarah Vaughan And Count Basie
Ella Fitzgerald-Cole Porter Songbook
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers-Moanin
Thelonious Monk-Misterioso
Sonny Rollins-Saxophone Colossus
Charles Mingus-Ah Um

1960s:

John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
Wayne Shorter-Juju
Herbie Han****-Maiden Voyage
Lee Morgan-The Sidewinder
Grant Green-Idle Moments
Miles Davis-In A Silent Way
Bill Evans-Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Eric Dolphy-Out To Lunch
Roland Kirk-We Free Kings


1970s:
Miles Davis-Agharta
Donald Byrd-Ethiopian Knights
Freddie Hubbard-Red Clay
Jim Hall-Concierto
Keith Jarrett-Survivors Suite
Clifford Jordan-Glass Bead Games
Chick Corea with Return To Forever-Light As A Feather
Jack DeJohnette-Special Edition
John Abercrombie-Timeless

1980s:
Keith Jarrett-Standards Vol 1
Chick Corea-Trio Music Live In Europe
Emily Remler-Firefly
John Zorn-Spy vs Spy
Henry Threadgill-Rag Bush And All

1990s:
Sonny Sharrock-Ask The Ages
Bill Frisell-Have A Little Faith
Kenny Wheeler-The Widow In The Window
Paul Motian-Plays Bill Evans

What about:
Marcus Miller
Bob Taillefer
Lee Ritenour
Stanley Clarke
Dave Weckl

there easy for some one new .

Man, no disrespect to you or any of the talented artists listed, but most of that is brderline smooth jazz which is usually what turns up the noses of non jazz fans in the first place.

ya your right they are boring

Hello, my first post here,

Knowing what I know about the different styles of jazz today..If I was just getting into it I would go straight to the 60's hard bop, specifically Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers A night in Tunisia. That will give you an idea of the kind of energy and brute force of some real high octane jazz.

It's like the jazz version of a coffee enema :D

My favorite genre and respective artist. We'll get along just fine.

That is a KILLER record. One of my favourites recordings. A great way to get into Jazz.:thumb:

:) Glad to be here among friends

Yeah...it seems like good recordings from that era were a dime a dozen, these days it's a total crapshoot.

I also agree with the other poster who mentioned Dave brubeck's Take Five...that's probably the easiest way to get a taste for the music

Cannonball Adderly - Mercy Mercy Mercy would be another great choice for a more soul jazz vibe

Jimmy Smith - The Sermon, I'm going off my head here :P

I'm trying to get a hold of the double live album produced when they were just the Art Blakey Quartet.. I think its A Night at Birdland.

Essential Blakey:
One Night At Birdland
At The Cafe Bohemia
Moanin
Mosaic
Free For All
Kyoto

If you want to check out fusion, I would highly recommend you listen to Shawn Lane. He has passed away, but he has left phenomenal pieces of music for us to remember him by.

I assume by "modern" jazz you are referring to smooth jazz, not actual modern jazz. Because telling me that music by people such as Chris Potter, Dave Douglas, and John Scolfield is elevator music would break my heart... -- all guys that the writer of this thread should look up...

Stan Getz....

I'm just getting into jazz, but I'm trying to avoid smooth jazz and contemporary stuff. Any suggestions?

JUst think top heavy Metal Guys like Zack Wyld studiy jazz, so do many of the other great hard rock guitarist, because it makes them appear superhuman when playing with sound effects.

Nice list! also like Kind of Blue by Miles

My favorite jazz album:
Straight, No Chaser - Monk

Great thread this - I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to jazz. All I've got in Blue Train, Herbie Hancock's last album, that album Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint did together and Zappa's Jazz From Hell. Been meaning to get into more of the stuff for quite some time though. Unfortunately there's not all that much I can do about it 'til I can get an EHD in January though (I've long since maxed-out my hard-drive's memory)

i watched a doco on tom waites recently and didnt realize he was a jazz/blues singer as well as a few other fusions mixed in. he had a bit of theater as well and often just almost freestyed his words. sometimes he just goes off into some sort of ramble but all together he has a unique style. heart and vine is a good example. YouTube - Tom Waits - Heart Attack and Vine

This is one of the best jazz albums in my opinion, and easy to listen to. It is a recently (2005) found tape of Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane playing at Carnegie Hall in Nov 1957:

At Carnegie Hall – Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Also, if you are getting into jazz improv, I recommend Keith Jarrett--he is completely improv on piano (and still going strong--just saw him at Carnegie Hall in January 2009--amazing mix of middle-age to large young-crowd following.... concert was recorded and MAY be released this year.) I like The Koln Concert (1975) album best:

YouTube - Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert (Part 1)　January 24, 1975

You should listen first to the Main musicians in jazz history in a chronological order.
For example : Scott Joplin, James p. Johnson, Duke ellington, Count basie, Charlie Parker, Bill evans, chick corea, Keith jarret, michel petrucciani... ( just an example )

I like jazz and blues

I started buying random jazz records from the local record store. There all relatively cheap, and its been a very good indication to what types of jazz I enjoy and which types I do not. I got into Duke Ellington and Count Basie that way.