Blue Train by John Coltrane. If you like Kind of Blue then you'll love it, I'm sure.

I'm not a big jazzer, but you should probably go for certain artists (I've picked one album each):

Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Thelonius Monk - Monk's Dream
Ornette Coleman - Shape Of Jazz to Come
Cannonball Adderley - Something Else

Then, anything by Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald, Time Out by Dave Brubeck. The list could be very long and it depends on what you most like about Kind Of Blue.

Sorry, not as helpful as it should be!

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/jazz-undiscovered-country

Joe Henderson.

I really don't mean to sound "older member" but this was done so well and so recently, actually probably more than once, that may I forward you back. I found the follow on enormously helpful and have spent a fortune on the damn stuff this year:
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/jazz-crap-discuss
and
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/jazz-undiscovered-country

and a fair place to start. Not only saw the release of the aforementioned Kind of Blue and Time Out but also

Giant Steps - John Coltrane
Ah Um - Charles Mingus
and Ornette Coleman's 'mindblowing if you're up for it' LP The Shape of Jazz to Come

I've been grooving a lot to Bille Holiday's Carnegie Hall concert lately too - such sexy slow singing just at the beginning of her late period voice. Also I'd always recommend the more Jazz / Blues Mose Allison (BTW he was 81 yesterday) though I think the massive might tire of me doing so if they haven't already.

I can heartily recommend The Neil Cowley Trio if you fancy something newer.

..and Kenny Ball.

should definitely be in there too but dont stick to the over familiar best ofs.
Good English Jazzers of note are Andy Sheppherd and Andy Hamilton. Guy Barker is also very impressive and extremely melodic.
If you like the funk side of things Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham are both worth checking out particularly Cobhams Spectrum cd.
If you like your jazz updated for the modern era check out the Verve Remixed series although am pretty sure the purists would sneer at this suggestion.
Also, I put it in Jazz genre but am sure a lot wouldnt but try the Buddha Bar series of cd's - truly wonderful and very uplifting.

...be-bop or free jazz but am reasonably receptive to the other stuff. The fewer notes the better for me, I suppose.

Can't go wrong with 'Kind Of Blue' which is probably my most played jazz album. I also love Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' and 'My Favourite Things'- the latter is a great entree as it puts a spin on well known show tunes. 'A Love Supreme' appealed to me instantly too, but I know some struggle with that album.

For Mingus give 'Ah Um' and 'Black Saint And The Sinner Lady' a go. I had another one on vinyl a few years ago which had a Spanish feel to it and I thought that was excellent as well. Brubeck's 'Time Out' is another classic.

Duke Ellington's 'Far East Suite' is another very fine album. If you want to try a British jazz album, go with 'Under Milk Wood' by Stan Tracey which I found a very easy album to enjoy with strong melodies. 'Starless And Bible Black' is a thing of real beauty.

The early 70s jazz rock is great too; Mahavishnu Orchestra's first few albums, Weather Report's 1970-7-ish run are all terrific and I like the more hard rock/funk flavour of Return To Forever's 'Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy'. All of Herbie Hancock's early 70s albums are fantastic, though 'Headhunters' is the most instantly appealing- the others are more electronic and experimental. In the UK, Soft Machine 'Third' is probably my favourite British jazz rock release.

Don't know much about the ECM stuff but I have Keith Jarrett's 'Koln Concert' and a few Jan Garbarek albums which I like.

"Something Else" Cannonball Adderley is fine album featuring Miles Davis.

I am not a huge jazz buff but over the years I have discovered about fifty albums that have become real favourites. I have also trod in some real dog shite as well, stuff that just does not do it for me that other people regard as classics, "a love Supreme " is sadly for me, one of those.

Here is a sampling of albums that are never very far from my "turntable".
Kenny Burrell "Guitar Forms" is a lovely album with Gil Evans arrangements.

John Coltrane "My Favourite Things" magical, works every time.

Louis Armstrong "Complete Hot Fives and Sevens" never fails to deliver.

Ella Fitzgerald "Cole Porter song books Vol one and two" Pure class.

Bill Evans "Song For Debbie" and "Everybody Digs" always revealing something new with each play.

Sarah Vaughan "Live at Mr Kellys" sit back, pour yourself a Scotch, enjoy and absorb. Magnificent record.

Sun Ra "Strange Celestial Road" unexpected brillance, fantastic groovy sax work and goofy vocals.

Miles Davis "In a Silent Way box set" far superior than the single album, the music on these 3 CDS actually glistens whilst you listens!

Hope this helps!

...if it's the chilled out vibe of Kind Of Blue that most appeals, then try all three albums by the Tord Gustavsen Trio - chilled out and mellow on the surface, but plenty going on underneath as you get deeper into them. And contemporary, too!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/07/london-jazz-festival#send-em...

Alexis Petridis pretty much nails every one of the Jazz cliche's I fall into, and it's a brilliant piece.

For what it's worth, I own a couple of records by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk (oh, and a Polar Bear one), and am a bit intimidated by anything else...

Should I buy this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kind-Blue-Porgy-Sketches-Spain/dp/B000V9PWS0/ref...

a la Kind Of Blue, then definitely go for 'A Love Supreme', 'Sketches Of Spain' and the above recommended Mingus albums (particularly Black Saint And Sinner Lady - which I actually think might be one and the same record as JJ's 'Spanish sounding one' as it has copious flamenco bits on it)... but for the ultimate sorrowful but ultra ultra cool one-last-drink-as-the-waitress-is-sweeping-up-around-you-and-a-lonesome-singer-croons-in-the-corner, it's got to be Chet Baker.

Clifford Brown - Clifford Brown With Strings

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

The Horace Silver Quintet - Song For My Father

Johnny Hodges - Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges

that I forgot to include a couple British jazzers who are making cracking music:

John Surman "The Spaces In Between" "Upon Reflection" and "Road To St Ives"

Ian Shaw "Drawn To All Things" and "Life Jacket"

MINGUS

Everyone has already mentioned so much good stuff on here already.

I would certainly agree with the posters so far who have mentioned ECM artists. The label specialises in cool, glacial music - great if you like 'Kind of Blue' - but with a very particular, indefinable atmosphere. Well, I say, indefinable - it sounds 'European' to my ears, as opposed to 'American'. Miles swings, ECM artists tend to glide.

Can't recommend John Surman and Jan Garbarek highly enough. Also you could try Keith Jarrett's 'Standards Trio' albums (with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette), which I think can be more accessible than some of his solo improvisation CDs.

I'd also recommend Ralph Towner, if you like the idea of jazz on acoustic guitars.

For something with a bit more 'zip', you could try some more of the Blue Note artists like Lee Morgan (my favourite) - the famous 'Sidewinder' album is majestic, along with any number of the others - 'The Gigolo' is great. Or Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, you can't go wrong with those. Many Blue Note albums of this vintage have been remastered at mid-price (the 'RVG' editions - RVG for Rudy Van Gelder, the engineering genius behind the house 'sound').

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, I have made many orders to Play ... all surprisingly cheap.

I'm sure you'll like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jimmy-Giuffre-Three/dp/B000002JMG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=...

It was originally released as "The Train and The River".

I honestly think that Wayne Shorter's mid-60s albums "Speak No Evil" and "JuJu" are one (or two) of the best place(s) to start if you're new to jazz.

While he's better known as a Davis sideman and founder of Weather Report, much of his solo work still sounds fresh, and his saxophone playing is pleasantly melodic. Also, that killer combination of ex-Coltrane men McCoy Tyner (piano) and Elvin Jones (drums) blows my mind every time.

if you're by any chance around London you could do worse than hang out at the Jazz festival that opened tonight for 10 days. Just got back from one of the events and, well, there's nothing quite like live music...