Jazz Recommendations

Peter Cincotti.

A previous poster mentioned Mark C.Gridley's jazz text;it has his top jazz recordings list and is a good overview of the subject.
Here are a few to get you started:
Early jazz--Louis Armstrong, hot 5/hot 7 recordings
Swing--Ellington,Live at Newport
Bop--Charles Parker,Ornithology
Hard Bop--John Coltrane,Giant Steps
Cool--Miles Davis,Kind of Blue
Modern--Bill Evans,Sunday Live at the Villiage Vanguard

The best place I've found to hear a wide variety of old and new jazz is Mainstream Jazz with Bob Parlocha. You can access it on jazz88fm.com. This is a public radio station in Minneapolis that plays mostly jazz.

Pieces of a Dream/Love's Silhouette

Incredible music and well recorded.

Kenny Garrett