Jazz Recommendations


I am just starting to get into Jazz. I recently bought Thelonious Monk Quartet "Live at Monterey" and was blown away. Could you recommend other mainstream Jazz recordings that I should have in a basic collection to help me get started.
kadlec
The Philadelphia Experiment...if you dont own this...Santa is gonna slap ya! Merry x-mas....
In addition to those mentioned above:

Eric Dolphy "Out To Lunch"
John Coltrane and Milt Jackson "Bags and Trane"
Freddie Hubbard "Red Clay"
Pat Metheny, one of the talented jazz musicians ever - and unbelievably dynamic in concert. Yet, no one has mentioned him, hmmm. Sure, Herbie and Miles are great, but Metheny's range of music is most adventurous and creative.
I'll just quietly slip into the back of the lecture hall and take notes. Since I forget to bring the books on the reading list, I'll consult the *starters'* list of jazz standards and contemporary jazz classics at
http://amadeus.siba.fi/~eonttone/standard.html
Pat Metheny, INDEED! - pretty much anything, except Zero Tolerance for Silence which is not for beginners or even casual jazz fans.
Keith Jarrett - the compilation "rarum: Selected Recordings" is a great overview of his work from '74 to '94, then in no particular order Live at the Blue Note, Whisper Not, Tokyo '96, Koln Concert, La Scala, The Melody at Night with You, My Song, Belonging, Arbour Zena, on and on.
Dave Holland Quintet - especially Not for Nothin', Prime Directive and What Goes Around (actually a big band recording).
Chris Potter, excellent young sax player - Travelling Mercies, Gratitude.
Charles Lloyd - recent recordings on ECM are great.
Kurt Rosenwinkel, great young guitar player - The Enemies of Energy.
Joni Mitchell, don't laugh or smirk, some of her stuff has a very real jazz feel to it - Hejira and other recordings post-1976, particularly one from 1980 with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Lyle Mayes, Wayne Shorter, Jack DeJohnette (I think that was the line-up.