A complete list of essential jazz recordings.
By Steve Williams
Salt Lake City, UT – This is a listing of artists and recordings I believe are essential to building a basic jazz library. Some are simply a 'Best Of' recording, meant to introduce a collector to a composite of the artist's work and not necessarily the most historic recording. Numbers don't determine importance of one recording over the other.
| Miles Davis | Kind of Blue | Columbia |
| Dave Brubeck | Time Out | Columbia |
| Count Basie | April in Paris | Verve |
| Bill Evans | Portrait of Jazz | Fantasy |
| Stan Getz/Joao | Getz and Giberto | Verve |
| Duke Ellington | Blues in Orbit | Columbia |
| Oscar Peterson | The Lost Tapes | Verve |
| Ella Fitzgerald | Sings the Blues | Pablo |
| Sarah Vaughn | The Best of | Pablo |
| Nat King Cole | After Midnight | Capitol |
| Stan Kenton | Retrosepctive-4 | Capitol |
| Erroll Garner | Magician & Gersh. | TelArcive |
| Hi-Lo's | Columbia Years | Koch |
| Mose Allison | Allison Wonder | Atlantic |
| Louis Armstrong | Decca Highlight | Decca |
| Ben Webster | Jaz Round Midnight | Verve |
| John Coltrane | Gentle Side of... | Impulse |
| Clifford Brown/Max | And Max Roach | EmArcy |
| Billie Holiday | Billie Songbook | Verve |
| Benny Goodman | Slipped Disc 1945 | Columbia |
| George Shearing | Best of 1960-69 | CapitolCD |
| Modern Jazz Quartet | Dedicated to Connie | Atlantic |
| Gerry Mulligan | Concert Jazz Band | Verve |
| Gill Evans/Miles Davis | Porgy & Bess | Columbia |
| Lester Young | Blue Lester | Savoy |
| Johnny Hartman | With Coltrane | MCA/Impulse |
| Nancy Wilson | Swingin's Mutual | Capitol |
| Herbie Mann | Evolution of Mann | Atlantic |
| Woody Herman | Thundering Herds | Columbia |
| Shirley Horn | Here's to Life | Verve |
| Lionel Hampton | Reunion Newport | RCA/BlueBird |
| Art Blkey | Best of Messengers | BlueNote |
| Art Tatum | Best of Tatum | Pablo |
| Coleman Hawkins | In a Mello Tone | Prestige |
| Ella & Duke Ellington | Ella & Duke | Verve |
| Maynard Ferguson | Chris Connor 2s | Capitol |
| Keith Jarrett Trio | Standards Live | ECM |
| Red Garland Trio | Groovy | Prestige |
| Art Pepper | No Limit | Contemporary |
| Milt Jackson | Reverence & Compass | Qwest |
| Charlie Parker | Bird-Origin Recs | Verve |
| Chet Baker | Chet | Riverside |
| Dizzy & Bird | Jazz at Massey Hall | Fantasy |
| Thelonious Monk | Best of | BlueNote |
| Bud Powell | Best of | BlueNote |
| Horace Silver | Song for Father | BlueNote |
| Wes Montgomery | Plays the Blues | Verve |
| Joe Pass | Appassionato | Pablo |
| Basie & Williams | Swings/Sings | Verve |
| Sonny Rollins | Best of BlueNote | Capitol |
| Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong | Verve | |
This list could easily have contained hundreds of recordings, but I've narrowed my favorites down to this group . . . recordings that give an enthusiast a basic introduction to the important movers and shakers of the jazz scene.
Steve Williams is KUER's Jazz Director and weeknight jazz host from 8pm to midnight.