Help Where to start with jazz?????

Wow, thanks for all the responses. It's really overwhelming! Just in the past few minutes I've enjoyed songs by BEN ALLISON, BABATUNE LEA, AKIRA TANA, LEE MORGAN, DONALD BYRD... Where does the good news stop!

I did see Ken Burns documentary last year and loved it. I was also at that time overwhelmed. Guess I just gota start with a few and network from there.

Thank god for the local jazz station: all that free music and no ads. guess I gotta make a pledge now.

http://www.jazzlist.org/

If you like what you're hearing, you van start by looking for more of the same. Check out your local library for CDs of the artists that are on KCSM and listen to more of their body of work. As you get comfortble with them expand by checking out albums by their sidemen. As you progress, you'll find some styles that resonate with you and some that don't, but you'll be finding more that work for you and that's all that counts.

If you like Lee Morgan, start with Sidewinder.

Also -- do you want a complete education in jazz, or were you just looking for a few suggestions as a starting place? It is easy to get overwhelmed,
especially if you believe you have to have jazz from every period and start out with the thought that you are going to build a complete collection, which would mean purchasing around three or four thousand albums -- where to start? That's why I gave you five or six to get you started in one period -- try not to get overwhelmed. Also, a great way to get some exposure, believe it or not, is to go to Amazon -- they have a feature that will let you listen to 30
seconds to a minute of some of the songs on each album. While it isn't perfect, you can sample a lot of music that way in a short period of time.