Help Where to start with jazz?????

Not that I disagree with any of the suggestions, but whenever someone asks for where to start in jazz, and it is a frequent question, why are all the suggestions post 1950 music? The 50s and 60s were great and innovative years for jazz, but by then jazz had already become a niche music category catering to a small, but loyal fan base. The real glory days for jazz were the 30s and 40s when jazz was America's popular music. If you really want to understand jazz you have to go back to this period.

Pretty much all modern jazz starts with Louis Armstrong. You might then move on to Duke Ellington and then sample some bebop. Enjoy!

The Ken Burns Jazz PBS series was a great intro to
jazz. There is a multi-CD recording of music
from the early 1900's to the 1990's.

Listening to the radio is an excellent way to get
acquainted with jazz. Just go buy something you
heard and liked and then maybe another by the same
artists.

Pay attention to whether you relate more to
singers or instrumentalists. Is there some one
particular instrument that really gets you (I'm a
big fan of jazz organ and piano)?
Any one particular performer? How about the jazz blues?

Good luck with your new found taste for jazz.

If you haven't already, read the entire "Jazz Recommendations" thread at the top of this page. Oh, and don't forget Art Pepper or Dinah Washington. :-)

When I began exploring jazz I liked the following:
Miles Davis - "Kind Of Blue", "Sketches Of Spain"
Dave Brubeck - "Time Out"
Bill Evans Trio - "Waltz For Debbie", "Sunday At The Village Vangard", "Everybody Digs Bill Evans"
Ella Fitzgerald - "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie"
Coleman Hawkins - "Night Hawk"
Sonny Rollins - "Way Out West", "Saxophone Colossus"
Art Pepper - "Meets The Rhythm Section", "Plus Eleven"
John Coltrane - "Blue Train"
Gene Ammons - "Blue Gene"
Louis Armstrong - "Satchmo Plays King Oliver"
Count Basie - "88 Basie Street"

The above are only a mix, but they give you a taste of different styles, vocals, piano trios, sax quartets and quintets and, in the case of "Sketches of Spain", jazz arranged to include an orchestra.

Here are some representative works from each of the periods.

Early Jazz--Louis Armstrong Hot Five or Hot Seven recordings.

Swing--Ellington,Live at Newport.

Bop--Charles Parker,Ornathology

Cool--Miles Davis,Kind of Blue

Hard Bop--Coltrane,Giant Steps

Modern--Bill Evans,Sunday Afternoon at the Vanguard.

Mark C. Gridley wrote a one volume jazz history that is an excellent read,much better than most textbooks. He includes lists of recordings.