FatTony

This year, I've been going through and buying a lot of classic jazz albums, but now that I've seemingly tapped those out, I want to branch out a bit. Here's a short list of some of my favorites that I have so far:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Round About Midnight, Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, Milestones (I do NOT dig any of the fusion stuff)
Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk, Monk's Dream, Straight No Chaser
Dave Brubeck - Time Out (didn't really dig Time Further Out)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
John Coltrane - Blue Train, My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme
Vince Guaraldi - A Boy Named Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas
Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats

I've pretty much tapped-out both Davis's and Monk's catalogs. But any other recommendations are greatly appreciated!

durden007

One of my favorites is Les Mccann & Eddie Harris's Swiss Movement album. It was recorded live at Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland. The two performers had never worked together, all improvised and amazing.

Gerry P.

First off, you have a long way to go before you "tap out" the Miles Davis catalogue. You might consider adding the essential Sketches of Spain, Cookin' at the Plugged Nickel or some of his early Prestige label stuff before moving on.

I love Miles, but my favorite jazz artist has to be Duke Ellington. You should run out and buy Ellington at Newport and The Blanton-Webster Years a.s.a.p.

As for other artists and albums, I would place Errol Garner's Concert by the Sea, Jimmy Smith's Crazy! Baby and Oliver Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth in the can't miss category. And even if fusion is not your thing, you still should check out Weather Report's highly accessible Heavy Weather.

If you ever decide to venture beyond the classics and into the present [perhaps you already have], then here are a few recommendations for someone with an ear for the past:

Joe Lovano Nonet: On This Day
Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra: Dream Keeper
Joe Henderson: Lush Life
Dave Holland Quartet: Extensions

Good luck.

jdpatri

Since some of my favorites seem to encompass many of the ones you've listed, I'll offer up some of the other jazz CD's in my regular rotation:

Lee Morgan: Sidewinder
Art Blakely: Moanin', A Night in Tunisia
J.J. Johnson: The Eminent J.J. Johnson Volume I, II
Dexter Gordon: Go
Sonny Clark: Cool Struttin', The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark

...and as Gerry mentioned, you can't go wrong with the Duke.

Hope you find your ear candy.

wendersfan

Aargh, search be your friend, matey:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=363554

(Just getting warmed up for 'Talk Like a Pirate Day'.)

Ghostface180

Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba

moonmadness

Wes Montgomery. I have his Riverside box set, but some good individual ones are Smokin' At The Half Note, Full House, and The Incredible Jazz Guitar...

Some of my favorite Miles Davis albums are the four Miles Davis Quintet (with John Coltrane) albums from 1956. They are:
Cookin', Relaxin', Steamin', and Workin'

Don't forget Coltrane's Giant Steps. His Atlantic period is my favorite, this is up there with My Favorite Things.

Want some Eastern inspired jazz? Check out Yusef Lateef. Very, very beautiful stuff. Just a few I really enjoy are The Centaur and the Phoenix, Eastern Sounds, and The Golden Flute.

Have you checked out Django Reinhardt? If you're at all interested in guitar jazz, check out one of these box sets:
The Complete Early Recordings In Chronological Order: this is only $20-30 at places like Amazon and has A LOT of music.
The Complete Quintet of the Hot Club of France Swing/HMV Sessions: available at mosaicrecords.com. This is the one I have. It's about 3x the cost and has around the same amount of music, but it's very good.

Mr. M

Bill Evans: Waltz for Debby, Sunday at the Village Vanguard
Louis and Ella
Any of a number of Billie Holiday comps, I like the later years myself - Lady in Autumn
Sarah Vaughan