https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/90761/The_Ray_Brown_Trio-Soular_Energy-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record

Just reissued. A great pressing and one of those essential albums you can always refer to for evaluating a system

Anything with Bill Evans. Brad Mehldau. Pat Metheny. Keith Jarret. 

This list is still fairly parochial. Pianists. No one mentioned the very late very great Chick Corea, Hank Jones; the pianist who made the young Oscar Peterson cry (Art Tatum); the guy who alternates with Bill Evans as pianist on KOB (McCoy Tyner), Monk’s sometime roommate, Bud Powell; the George Shearing series with various vocalists; Teddy Wilson, who played with the Benny Goodman Quartet; and what about Duke Ellington or Count Basie? Besides being band leaders, and in the case of Duke a great composer, they also played piano. There are dozens more.

Then there’s sax players. No one mentions the generally accepted GOAT, Charlie Parker. Admittedly, most of his LPs are from the late 40s to mid 50s and will be in mono, but he must be heard. (I beg to differ with Elliot that you must have a mono cartridge to listen to mono LPs. A mono switch on your linestage will suffice, and in a pinch, so will just using your stereo cartridge in stereo.) Then there is also, in no particular order, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon; Art Pepper’s contemporary also on alto sax, Lee Konitz; Stanley Turrentine, Gene Ammons, Benny Golson, Zoot Simms, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins. These are just some of my favorites. Here is a list of 50 great sax players.

And this is just some of the great players on only two instruments (3 if you separate alto and tenor sax).

This is why I say I have 2000-ish great jazz LPs. As to the years of great jazz recordings, I would pretty much avoid the 70s and early 80s, because in those years jazz players were desperately trying to find an audience by interpreting the contemporary music of those years, which music in my opinion does not translate well to the jazz styles I like. Not to say also that a lot of the music of those years is weak.

Try Duke Robillard, Smooth.  While he is better known for Blues, this is a great album.

The Modern Jazz Quartet. "The Last Concert" live at Carnegie Hall.  It was the first jazz record I ever bought on recommendation from Stereo Review c. 1974.  I still have it, play it often, and get something new out of it every time.

Ellington's small group performances on "Money Jungle," and "The Intimate Ellington."  The combo on "Money Jungle consists of Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach.  How cool is that?

For big band jazz anything by Duke and Count Basie, but a special favorite is the three record set of Linda Ronstadt singing from the great American songbook, "'Round Midnight."  Nelson Riddle orchestrated the whole shebang and led his orchestra.  Is it jazz?  It'll do 'til the real thing comes along, to paraphrase Patricia Barber.  Her "Live, A Fortnight in France" is also a fine album.

I would also add Smokin' at the Half Note by the Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery, as my favorite Wes album.  Give the guitarists some.

Just buy every Bill Evans album and buy everything Oscar Peterson ... 

Not all jazz, but "Mose Alive" (Mose Allison) is good.

Look for an original Atlantic pressing.

DeKay

Dave Brubeck's-"Time Out" Columbia 45 rpm pressing CS 8192

Art Blakey's- "Just Coolin"-Blue Note pressing ST-64201

Paul Chambers-"Bass on Top"-Blue Note pressing BST 81569

Ella Fitzgerald & Billie Holiday at Newport-(side A is Ella recorded  July4th,1957)

(side B is Billie recorded July 6th-1957) Both pressing originals by Verve Records

pressing MG V-82341-1958-

Current re-release by Not Now Music (visit--

https://www.notnowmusic.com

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong-Verve pressing-MG V 4003

Enjoy the music.

PS: The Ella and Billie recording from Not Now is mono.  Also there were some sound quality "challenges" back in day of live recording.  But it is Ella and Billie albeit toward the end of Billie's career when her voice had developed a "patina".

Lennie Tristano and his star pupil, my teacher, Sal Mosca. Has anybody mentioned Armstrong? Not a jazz collection overall without him. Lester Young with the Nat Cole Trio will have you humming his solos all day long, and his solo on "Embraceable You" on the "Charlie Parker Jazz at the Philharmonic 1949" album is one of the greatest of all saxophone improvisations. And don’t neglect the best of the big bands and swing. As Duke Ellington said, "All the audiences are still there."

Count Basie - Basie Big Band

Toshiko Akiyoshi/ Lew Tabakin Big Band - Long Yellow Road

Two sides of jazz, east coast and west coast. Two different sounds.

Many have recommended great east coast jazz albums. To add some great west coast artists:

Art Pepper, saxophone, any album any time in his great career

Chet Baker, trumpet, especially the early years

Shelley Manne, one of the great drummers and band leaders

Lastly, a brand new but going to be one of the all time great jazz singers (4 Grammy awards at the age of 24) SAMARA JOY

  -GAR

https://www.jazzwise.com/features/article/the-100-jazz-albums-that-shook-the-world

Esbjorn Svennson Trio “Plays Monk”

The Ray Brown Trio   “Soular Energy” 

Les Meccan & Eddie Harris  “Swiss Movement”

Stan Getz “Bossas and Ballards” 

Kurt Elling “The Gate”

Benny Green Trio “Greens”

Art Pepper “The Trip”

Mary Lou Williams Trio “Free Spirits”

Frank Morgan “A Lovesome Thing”

Wayne Shorter”Speak No Evil”

@gareents- I got turned on to Horace Tapscott a while ago; that live double album, side 3, is killer. Through him I also got onto Nate Morgan--Journey Into Nigritia is pretty amazing. He was not only was part of that underground ensemble, but worked with Chaka Khan! Not well-known players but fascinating stuff.

Chet Baker - Chet

Art Pepper - Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section

Chuck Mangione, Jazz flugelhorn player, main squeeze,

Don Ellis, Live at Fillmore, Jazz trumpet player with big band. Phenomenal arranger. did Soundtrack for French connection, Hackman was in this one as you probably know

Grant Greene - idle hands

Freddie Hubbard - open sesame

Bill Evans - waltz for debbie 

Chet Baker - sings

Jackie McLean - destination out

John Coltrane- coltrane’s sound

Joe Henderson - page one

The Third  Take The "A" Train

More images

Sun Ra -  Angels and Demons at Play/The Nubians of Plutonia

Wayne Shorter - JuJu

Chuck Mangione’s first album “The Chuck Mangione Quartet”. It was recorded about 1970 and the only place I found it was on Amazon and it came from Germany. Great old album. Chuck sitting on a metal chair facing left with his flugelhorn on his lips.

Almost anything by Sarah Vaughan - "the divine one" - the voice of God imho. This is a favorite, but hard to go wrong:

https://www.discogs.com/master/211013-Sarah-Vaughan-Sarah-Vaughan-In-Hi-Fi

Late to the party, but will say that there are a whole lot of great suggestions in this thread. I’ll add several in no particular order, perhaps "debatable" to some, that really lit my system up:

Annie Lennox’ Nostalgia

Passport Blue Tattoo

Larry Coryell (pretty much everything)

Buddy Rich & Lionel Hampton Translation

Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett Cheek to Cheek

Frank Sinatra A Man And His Music

Stanley Clarke School Days

Weather Report Heavy Weather

A note on something not a many others have mentioned so far: Actually finding copies. Getz and Jobim is an old record and not so easily available in good shape. I got lucky and found a pristine copy online, albeit for ~$50 including shipping. 15 years ago. The Sinatra LP (a double Reprise original) was a still factory-sealed cut-out I found at a Goodwill for $1.50. My first copy of Stephanie Germanotta’s and Anthony Benedetto’s first LP rocked my world with the quality of its pressing. And then I dropped it putting it back in the sleeve. Took me two more copies to find another just as well-pressed.

You understand the reality I’m describing and have a good cleaning system. You might consider adding a Vinyl Flat to address the inevitable warped copies you’ll encounter that are otherwise just fine. And be both diligent and patient looking for things. First editions of desirable stuff could take years. Something that’s just got greasy fingerprints with no visible scratches you can fix.

Good luck, fun searching and happy listening!

Make that Grant Greene “Idle Moments”.. one of the greats.

Green also plays w/ Ike Quebec on “Blue and Sentimental”

Art Pepper “Getting’Together!” Wynton Kelly on Piano too. Chambers and Cobb too. The track “Why are we afraid” is a favourite. 

Adding to the many great suggestions…

Definitely Chick Corea - Trilogy and Trilogy 2 live, and Chick Corea Akoustic Band Live are all great (Dave Weckl is crazy good on drums) If I remember correctly Chick wrote much of the music for Time Out?

Oscar was mentioned many times, but We Get Requests is one of my faves and is really nicely recorded. That and Night Train.

You absolutely need to have Lee Morgan-The Cooker (Blue Note Poets Edition). It is an audiophile recording and pressing currently in production and possibly my favorite jazz album. 

Many excellent suggestions already, but with one qualification, I'll add a few that haven't been mentioned.

The qualification is that I listen to CDs and Hi-Red streaming, not LPs. But as the master recording is the key, these should all be available in finely made LPs.

Charlie Mingus: – Mingus Ah Um

Oliver Nelson – The Blues And The Abstract Truth

Miles Davis – Porgy And Bess

Hank Mobley – Soul Station

Paul Chambers Quartet – Bass On Top

Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue

Wow, what a great list going - kudos.  And I always thought you guys were just a bunch of gearheads!  

@blackbag20 

That Moses Yoofee trio is killer stuff, thanks for that!

@whipsaw "Ah Um" reminded me of Charlie Mingus "Mingus Plays Piano". Put it on immediately. So thanks.

When I see lists like this I check everything I don't know and always pick a thing or two. Others do the same?

I know it is almost a cliché, and recommend here by many commenters', but Dave Brubeck's Time Out on a SACD is incredible, the clarity, depth, is just amazing. You will not regret this purchase.

@wsrrsw You’re welcome. Mingus’ albums were typically very well recorded, and his music is terrific.

And yes, I do the same!

One of my favorite recordings is Dave Grusin’s The Gershwin Connection. Not only is the playing outstanding, but the recording is as well. 
if you like big band, there are two Burnin’ for Buddy tribute albums available with guest drummers. It’s super energetic. 

Pat Metheney Group OFFFRAMP.  Just sensational ensemble with jazz guitar.

With so many great and thoughtful recommendations mentioned above, I hesitate to add another:  Jazz at Massey Hall aka The Greatest Jazz Concert ever.  This is an excellent live recording of be-bop greats at their peak -- Parker, Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus (who, as I recall made the recording) and Max Roach.  The recording has been issued under several names and forms over the years.  I have a 70s era double lp under the title The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever on Prestige.  Dizzy's solo on Wee still blows my mind. You can find it relatively cheaply on Discogs.  Snag one!

As others suggested, you can explore from there.  One approach would be to go backwards in time to Jelly Roll Morton in the '20s or forward to today (Yusef Dawes) with many stops along the way in either direction. Or pick an artist (Monk is the guy who hooked me); or an instrument, an era, a label etc.  Whichever path you take, enjoy the music.

I love threads like this. I use them to create playlists on my Amazon Music account. I already have a lot of these on vinyl, but new vinyl is way too expensive for me to load up on. Fortunately, I built most of my LP collection in the early CD days, when I could buy 20 good used records for $100. Those were they days!

So instead, I just copy the album name off the thread, paste it into the search box on Amazon Music and add it to the playlist. The one I've built off this thread is 35 hours long, all curated by Audiogon jazz fans. Thanks everybody for introducing me to a lot of great music...a lot of it in higher resolution than CDs.

You've got a lot of great recommendations so I won't give you another list, but when you're shopping don't overlook the Concord Jazz label. The are usually excellent LP's and they have a lot of very high quality musicians often not appearing elsewhere.  

Anything from Johnny Hodges  (Dukes first sax), Stanley Turrentine, George Benson-Giblet Gravy (early years), Count Basie, Lavay Smith and the Red hot skillet lickers (excellent vocals and masters of jazz instruments ensemble). Anything from Duke Ellington. Julian Cannon ball Adderley. Grover Washington Jr. (one of the smoothest sax's)  Kenny G! ...Im totally kidding :-)

Matt M

Hiatus Kaiyote  Choose Your Weapon

Is this a jazz album? To be jazz does it have to be on 60  to 70 year old structures?

I guess I'm asking what is jazz?

Dexter Gordon “One Flight Up”. 

Isao Suzuki Quartet ,Blow Up, Japanese Jazz

For guitar lovers, any Kenny Burrell.

More guitar lovers, Joe Pass.

One of my top five because I love a B3 organ and guitar.  Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery “The Dynamic Duo” groovy.

If you want to get out there, how about Eric Dolphy.

You might want to do some listening and accompanying reading so you get a better understanding of what you’re hearing. I’d suggest the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz. It takes you chronologically through the history of the music, with a well researched and written booklet. 

Sonny Rollins – Saxophone Colossus 

Cannonball Adderley – Somethin’ Else

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman is pure elegance.

Art Blakey – Moanin’ is essential.

@2psyop

You might benefit from buying the All Music Jazz Guide:

https://www.amazon.com/All-Music-Guide-Jazz-Definitive/dp/087930717X

It provides a useful overview and goes into various movements/styles as well as listing and reviewing tons of recordings on a variety of labels.

You might also check out The Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums:

http://mazon.com/Penguin-Jazz-Guide-History-Albums/dp/014104831X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36VBZ1GJ42ZCS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Sv_3Ilg7tUN7mS_IMptOR36ITWN4NAIwyDEdT536OMacZ4l_bpY1FKi9d2tPcJbLEXJ08oKv8_6KNb1eUdphdfJWdxskWKNngV9cUPgShQ1X3qjUH1Nr0IQ-r50gubu7u0Qm2R-fGmg12j966-FR5TUqGQPzZ4Ty-kg57BIiXtTlKfx7O93V66BHKWTrMSu_UbTZ-wM0D_n0yS4nILt4bhp18rX88c3glKqzSyLnEUc.MQaZwz9vmoIAuY2ancZeTlNVxstSBaPdxmM6kktrdJM&dib_tag=se&keywords=penguin+jazz+guide&qid=1741842741&s=books&sprefix=penguin+jazz+guide%2Cstripbooks%2C129&sr=1-1

As tempting as it is to type out a long list of my favorites, I have no idea of your tastes, so I won’t. You’ve received a wide range of suggestions, already. Spend some time exploring and you’ll discover what you like. Jazz is an incredibly varied and rewarding genre!

I will offer a tip regarding sonics. While Rudy Van Gelder is very well known, particularly for his work for Blue Note, do not neglect to check out the work of Roy DuNann for Contemporary. Here is a list :

https://www.discogs.com/artist/407308-Roy-DuNann?srsltid=AfmBOoqwPWzMzIrBQPvvs6-tX5GjOa1rlvhn3UBcmlfVrwdOlQwTOG0k

It’s a long list! Here are a few well-regarded titles to start with:

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section

The Curtis Counce Group

Sonny Rollins Way Out West

The Poll Winners (S. Manne, R. Brown, B. Kessel)

Benny Carter Jazz Giant

Shelley Manne and His men At the Blackhawk

FInally, I assume someone's already mentioned that the ECM label is well known for its sonics. The tricky thing is that, stylistically, the artists and recordings on that label cover a very wide range, from sweetly melodic to fairly dissonant.

I’d suggest Jan Garbarek’s Belonging, Keith Jarrett’s The Koln Concert, Pat Methey’s Bright Size Life and Crystal Silence by Gary Burton and Chick Corea as some good ones to start with.

Have fun!

Since you enjoy percussion, Billy Cobham might be suitable. He's a long-time jazz and jazz-fusion drummer. I have his album Observations... the performance and sound quality are excellent.