"The Thelonius Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" -
Mosaic MQ1-321 (Wow!! To think that the tapes of this live 1957 performance sat in the Library of Congress archives untouched and never released for over 40 years is just an amazing story unto itself. Notwithstanding the erroneous jacket credits duplicated from the CD cover, this LP is mastered from the original analog mastertapes and the sound quality is excellent. The interplay of Monk and Coltrane in this live setting is something to treasure! Highly recommended.)
"Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz" Smithsonian P6 11891 - coming as primarily a classical music listener, I've been trying to learn more about jazz over these past half dozen years. This 6LP Smithsonian Collection has been on my shelf for a dozen years and I'm sorry not to have started working my way through its contents earlier. Listening to just one side at a time and reading the extensive materials in the enclosed booklet is serving as an excellent tutorial on the history of jazz and its development. Much of what I'm listening to elsewhere is making a lot more sense now.
Ken Burns "History of Jazz" series -- OK, this is a DVD. But the photos, film clips, commentary and soundtracks are great for this jazz novice. I know this has been a controversial series among jazz cognoscenti, but it's serving as a great resource for me to gain context and some appreciation for the history of the music.
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