help me find quality classic jazz?

Gee, when I think Evans, I don't think fast at all. My favorite is Waltz for Debbie.

Another idea: Ketih Jarrett, The Melody At Night With You. It's second-tier Jarrett if you're a Jarrett fan, but might be right up your alley.

I have given this some thought over a nice glass of wine. I did limit myself to the year criteria, but I submit for your consideration:

Gene Ammons: Boss Tenor (1960) (possibly an exact match for what you are looking for)

Gerry Mulligan: Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (1959) (highly acclaimed session, lots of great relaxed sax, including baritone)

Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1962) (not big band, just sax, piano, bass, and drums. beautifully introspective)

Zoot Sims: Blues for Two with Joe Pass (no drums but a lot relaxed breathy sax and guitar interplay) (1982)

Dexter Gordon: Ballads (1960s)

These are slightly more uptempo:

Paul Desmond: Two Of A Mind (with Gerry Mulligan and Jim Hall)

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus (1950s) (a classic and very tuneful)

Stan Getz: Jazz Samba (great sax, and with Charlie Byrd on Guitar I dont think you can go wrong).

Have Fun!

Bomarc I am sure you are right and I just do not know the artists well enough.

Hifive, I should have mentioned Charlie Byrd as he is one of my favorites and so is Stan Getz, Jazz Samba sounds like a winner! I will carefully consider your list as I think you have your finger on some nice choices.

come to think of it...
maybe I should have named this thread something like 'your favorite slow jazz choices' so more people would be interested in contributing (not that I am ungrateful, quite the contrary) it is just that it would then be about music and not me.

thanks to everyone, I look forward to some quality music, btw if you have not discovered deepdiscountcd.com do yourself a favor and save some money as they have good prices and do not charge shipping, though somewhat of a limited selection I have bought much there.

all the best

Phil

I ordered these CDs and will report back...

BYRD,CHARLIE: JAZZ N' SAMBA
BYRD,CHARLIE: MOMENTS LIKE THIS
ELLINGTON/COLTRANE: ELLINGTON & COLTRANE
AMMONS, GENE: BOSS TENOR
GORDON,DEXTER: BALLADS
WEBSTER,BEN: SOULMATES
WEBSTER,BEN: SOULVILLE

I love Charlie Byrd even though he does not especially fit into this thread..

BTW Bomarc I will look into Benny Goodman too. I recently bought a Time/Life sampler CD set (100 songs for $12 a pretty good collection too) and there was some swing and I agree it can be very nice.

Regiolanthe, a very thoughtful reply, I will look into 'Two of a Mind' as well.

all the best

Phil

Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Coleman Hawkins seem to be what you're looking for. All old, mellow, breathy and intimate. I'm actually listening as I type to a Lester Young recording with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Any one, actually all three, are well worth looking into. The sound quality of the recordings for Webster and Hawkins are quite good. If you can find re-issues for Young's, the sound is cleaned up considerably. Some of his older recordings are scratchy and as good as he is, tough for me to listen through. Have fun.