Jazz CD suggestions for evening ambience

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.

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.

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.

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.

John Coltrane-Ballads