A good place to start is with the classic records from the '60s. Small jazz combos playing bop, and hard-bop. Tons to recommend here.
Rather than providing another immense list, I would like to urge you to take very seriously the lists provided by both slipknot1 and rushton. These are very good suggestions and, in my opinion, are much, much better places to start than what many of the others have suggested. You will have plenty to work with there.
For what it is worth, you can get a great collection of '60s classic jazz from bmg. Look for the remastered versions of the classic blue note 60's stuff. All Music Guide (available on-line) can help you identify which they are. (Miles Davis, Grant Green, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock!!, Johnny Griffin, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, etc., etc.)
Hope this is of some help.
Rather than providing another immense list, I would like to urge you to take very seriously the lists provided by both slipknot1 and rushton. These are very good suggestions and, in my opinion, are much, much better places to start than what many of the others have suggested. You will have plenty to work with there.
For what it is worth, you can get a great collection of '60s classic jazz from bmg. Look for the remastered versions of the classic blue note 60's stuff. All Music Guide (available on-line) can help you identify which they are. (Miles Davis, Grant Green, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock!!, Johnny Griffin, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, etc., etc.)
Hope this is of some help.