Jazz CD suggestions for evening ambience


I'm wondering what Audiogoners might suggest in terms of (fairly) widely available Jazz CDs for a tasteful restaurant (asian fusion cuisine, large metropolitan setting). I'm helping with the aural planning so to speak. At the moment we find Bill Evans well-suited to ideal; Thelonious Monk provides great ambience but is at times a bit too pensive and slow for this particular environment; Marvin Gaye supplies ample classic retro from time to time, but is a tad too recognizable. All comments/suggestions &/or pointers are greatly appreciated.
agonanon
Mehldau is always cool but not always mellow. If you bought one album of Mehldau's you won't necessarily like his other ones. If anything Mehldau stuff tends to be way out there and not always something you can relax to.
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Chris Botti - Night Sessions
Pat Methany - One Quiet Night

Also, check out Tone Ghost Ether ;
http://kitwatkins.com/TGE/
Jazz is such a wide genre now that one really shouldn't classify as one thing and not the other and restrict it.

Kind of Blue is such a frequently played album that it is good for all kind of moods. It doesn't stop being a reference for students, good music for the casual listener, and an album worth listening to for professional musicians.
Ralph Towner/Gary Burton - "Matchbook" I would describe this as similar in ambiance to Pat Metheny - "One Quiet Night". And I haven't heard and better albums with vibes.
Both of these are nice in the background, but also excellent for focused listening. If your customers notice this music, it may bring a smile.

Pat Methany - One Quiet Night (or others by Methany)
Charlie Haden and Pat Methany - Beyond the Missouri Ski
Jazz is an evening phenomenon. It just sounds best after the sun goes down. Just put on what you're in the mood for, mellow and cool or frenetic and intense. Do what feels right at the time.
No. I think they intended it to be music. Coltrane for one didn't care where he played. He was known to spend hours playing after the concert had long been finished. Jazz isn't background music. It's music, whether you're criticaly listening to it or just having it in the background. There are places where you go to listen to music and there are places where you go to have live jazz in the background. That's the listener's choice. Of course most musicians would prefer a crowd that really wants to listen. But you think many of these jazz greats cared whether they played in a prestigious club or out in the streets? At least in the beginning, most of these guys just love to play. And that's what it's all about. It's about expressing yourself through the instrument or music whether you're happy or sad. And if you can communicate your feelings to someone else, then that's even better.
It's fascinating that so many people consider jazz as background music. I'm sure Coltrane/Hartman/Montgomery/Pepper et. al. intended it that way.
Paul Desmond is usually good. Maybe Art Pepper. Joe Henderson would have something that fits the bill since he's such a wide-ranging player.
Woah, I haven't yet thanked everyone for their kind suggestions. Sorry for the delay - and thank you! Your help is very much appreciated. Lngbruno, thank you also for the good wishes!
Try some old Ahmad Jamal--Cross Country Tour or Ahmad's Blues would be a good start.
Last year I assisted my brother in a similar task for his retail business. He has received very positive feedback from his patrons:

Below are some of what he has in his collection:

CBS Sampler – no boundaries
Chesky Records – collection series 1
Columbia Records – on the jazz tip volumes 1, 2, & 4; audio file ‘96
Concord Jazz – stretch records sampler ‘97
CTI – windows collection 1 & 2
DMP Sampler – carved in stone; cat tracks, at taste of DMP; 20-Bit Digital Jazz
Fahrenheit Sampler – the first four seasons; ’96 taste test; jazz sampler ‘98
GRP – all star big band; all star big band live; live in session; super live; 10th anniversary collection
Heads Up Records – collections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; africa straight ahead
Higher Octave Music – collections 1 & 2; evolution; world fusion
Instinct Records – new voices 4; love boss a style; this is smooth jazz 5, africa
JVC Sampler – world class music
MCA Sampler – fall ’97; spring into summer ’88 and ‘89
Slimstyle Records – swing this baby
Swingtime – big band artist
Verve Sampler – cool city sounds; pure jazz;
Warner Bros. – best of smooth jazz 1, 2, 3, & 4

Most of the above can be found at used stores or online at places like www.half.com as we did.

Also, go to www.jazziz.com and review their monthly samplers. We ended up with quite a few of those too.

Go luck with the restaurant,
L
I have just the thing.. and at 7-8 bucks per disk not too bad. See the Concord jazz catalog with their jazz moods compilation disk listings..for example, "Jazz Moods - Brazilian Romance", "Jazz Moods - Jazz at Week's End", "Jazz at Night's End", "Jazz at Day's End" etc.
May I recommend "Wining,Dining,Dancing,and Romancing" this value oriented 4 cd collection has 65 fine selections to clean the palate and dial up the appetite.Seasoned with classic love hand selected from Verves fine reserves each a timeless masterpiece.Special of the day at $27.Sample cuts provided below.....

verve sampler on Yahoo
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