Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Davis's Kind of Blue

The suggestions already given are great, but I would also recommend from Horace Silver-Song For My Father, the Stylings of..., and The Cape Verdean Blues.

I also like Stan Getz /Charlie Byrd-Jazz Samba.

In reality the list is endless. :-)

Regards,
Todd

The Coltrane album called "Coltrane" on Impulse is often overlooked, but has some of the best really intense blowing you'll hear from him. Then his Ballads album, and his album with Johnny Hartman, show you what he can do in a completely different direction. I've listened to all 3 of those records some many times I've lost count, and still love them.

Also sometimes overlooked is the last Miles Davis quintet (with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, etc.). Two of my favorites of that period are "ESP" and "Nefertiti". Great, great tunes, and incredible interplay.

I love Thelonius Monk and have for 40 years, but finding the right album to start somebody with is not so easy. His albums can be a little inconsistent, and his approach puts off some people, for a variety of reasons. If it's still around, a compilation called Ballads, which consists of Riverside material, is the best intro I've ever found, and even as someone who likes the individual records, I have really, really enjoyed that compilation--very well chosen. That having been said, I bought the whole Riverside box, and listening to large parts of that over and over as well. I would say his live albums generally are safe bets.

Finally, Bill Evans' live material from the Village Vanguard in the early 60's is as classic as jazz ever gets, although it's quite a bit "straighter" then the other stuff we're talking about.

There is tons of fabulous stuff out there...what a great chance to discover good things!

All of the above postings were great and no one has mentioned Charles Mingus... It sounds like you like "cool" or "smooth" jazz. Can you elaborate about what you like to listen to...
To end I'll mention Oliver Nelson's Blues in the Abstract Truth... A must..

Coltrane - Blue Train
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby
Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie - On the Sunny Side of the Street
Ella Fitzgerald - The 40th Birthday Concert
Wynton Marsalis - Standard Time
Oscar Peterson Trio - We Take Requests

Rileyphile:
"It sounds like you like "cool" or "smooth" jazz"

I very much dislike anything that begins to sound like phoned in "elevator" jazz. If Kind of Blue by Davis is cool than that is what I like. But I also listen to everything from Anthony Braxton to Roscoe Mitchell To Masubumi Kikuchi, so it doesn't have to be simple or smooth. I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I have most of the Coltrane stuff...and about 30 Miles Davis cd's. I guess another way to ask what I am looking for is: If you had to pick one or two masterpiece, must have albums by a jazz icon, which would it be? In other words, which Adderly album, which Hancock, which Monk, Silver, Mingus, Rollins, ad infinitum. Mostly from the 60's and 70's as that is an era that I don't know much about with jazz (Too busy listening to Steppenwolf and Jefferson Airplane!). I want to thank everyone for their suggestions so far...I am making a list! Thanks, Jim