Late Night Jazz

At late night, when I listen to jazz, I most often listen to piano, either solo or with one other instrument. In addition to some of the albums listed in previous responses, here are long-time favorites and some that I've been enjoying recently:

Ahmad Jamal -- Ballades
Fred Hersch -- Music from Home
Bill Evans -- Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby
Charlie Haden and Hank Jones -- Steal Away and Come Sunday
Charlie Haden and Chet Baker -- Silence

And some exceptions to the rule include:

Ben Webster -- Soulville (yep, I'll join the chorus on this one)
Ben Webster -- Jazz 'Round Midnight
Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau -- Across the Wide Missouri Sky
Joe Pass -- Meditation and Unforgettable

Happy listening and sweet dreams!

Jim

I am surprised no one mentioned....Stanley Turrentine’s - Soft Pedal Blues and Dorene Don’t Cry, I 

@cabfiend: I gave Coltrane and Hartman a late night spin.. and it is indeed a good one.  I especially enjoyed Coltrane’s rhythm section — Jones using brushes the whole album, Garrison plucking deep, round notes to go along perfectly with Hartman’s voice. Great recording as well (Impulse AS-40).

How come I never read about audiogon folks listening to organ jazz? Nothing like an organ ballad at night. Dig through any organ album, they all have at least one ballad. But even the up stuff is good after dark. 

Brother Jack McDuff 
Don Patterson 
Joey Defrancesco 
Jimmy McGriff
Shirley Scott
Jimmy Smith 
Charles Earland

Ballads by Coltrane is hard to beat for late-night, "wine"-down listening. (The new release from QRP is amazing) But also try Coltrane’s Crescent, one of my personal favorites and Love Letter by Jimmy Heath.