The one and only Billie Holiday. And besides of the named before try Sara Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Ornette Coleman, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, and some of the new ones like Jose James or Speranza Spalding.

And for those who like Jazz and haven't seen it yet, you gotta watch Round Midnight; a jazz movie with some of the Blue Note greatest. One of my favourites of all time with an incredible soundtrack.

I dont know about any really good compilation but there is a serie of 12 documentaries tellin' the history of jazz and made by Ken Burns. You get to know the artists, their music, and the context it was made.

Anything with coltrane. If you could find a copy od Dave Brubeck's Jazz Impressions of New York, buy it.

John Coltrane
Larry Coryell
Sun Ra
Miles Davis
Grant Green

Two words - Thad Jones

The man was a genius

Songs in particular: Central Park North, Greetings and Salutations, Back Bone, Us, It Only Happens Every Time