Jazz newbie

John Coltrane - 'Dear Old Stockholm' / 'Giant Steps'
Thelonious Monk - 'Monk's Dream' / 'In Walked Bud'
Wes Montgomery - 'Movin' Wes Part 1 & 2' / 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker' / 'In And Out' / 'Senza Fine'

Joni Mitchell - 'Mingus album' - If you like Jaco Pastorius playing, you will love this.

 

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Required listening for anyone getting into Jazz.

 

I highly recommend Kind Of Blue too.

One of my favourite contemporary jazz CDs is Works For Me - John Scofield with Christian McBride on double bass.



If you're looking for electric bass guitars in jazz, look up Alain Caron, Matthew Garrison, Roland Guerin. I've just placed an order for Alain Caron's latest CD:

 

Just pick up a Real Book 6th Edition and just use that as a guide to jazz 101. Pretty much every song in there is a good starting point.
Just flip through it and get as many of the songs as you can.

And I do have to agree that "Kind of Blue" is awesome, as well as "Miles Smiles"

 

Any John Coltrane as he ususally played with Paul Chambers, a great jazz bassist.
I like older Miles Davis, Kind of Blue is my fav Jazz album, but especially listen to his time with Ron Carter (bass), Herbie Hancock (keys), and Tony Williams (drums), some say it was his finest lineup.
I'd also recommend ANY Charlie Parker as he was one of the most influencial musicians ever. Many people have tried to transpose his tunes, even Jaco did.
Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, the list could go on. I'd stick to the "older" stuff though. The more contemporary jazz is good, don't get me wrong, but it's not the same. Jazz standards are "standards" for a reason. Plus it's really a historical thing... you can understand modern jazz better if you understand what Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker did.
Final note as a bassist, get Charles Mingus... any of it! I'd recommend his album 3 or 4 Shades of Blue.
Hope this helps!

 

Anything Miles Davis... Duke Ellington wrote a lot of great tunes too.

Note
*Look into Scott LaFaro.... Wowzas*

 

Real Books can be found at most music stores (they can order em for you also), or you can find one online somewhere, I'm sure of it. There are several Real Books, just get the 1st Real Book, 6th edition.

 

You mention you're into funk, so you might like some albums like John Scofields "A Go Go", Charlie Hunter Quintet "Right Now Move" or Herbie Hancock "Head Hunters"

One my favorites is John Ellis "One Foot in the Swamp"

Also look into the Dave Holland Quintet. Count me down for Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" too, it's an amazing album!

Let us know what of this you like.

 

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew was a perfect transition for me into jazz, it is somewhat rock oriented:

 

Further inspiration:

!!!!!!!!!

 

I couldn't agree more with the above, that particular Miles lineup is an example of great bop jazz.

 

Aside from favorite albums, and many will be listed, most notably "Kind of Blue", I'd say listen to jazz on this internet station/service (it's free!) called, Pandora: http://www.pandora.com/ The great thing about it is that you get full-length songs, can chose to vote like/dislike and the service will play other things based on these votes. You will come across stuff you'll like, and stuff you won't, but it will help you to begin to become familiar with artist names and some sounds, and it allows you to sort of "guide" your own process of jazz discovery to what pleases/interests your ear without being beholden to what any of us may recommend. I'm sure what all of us will recommend is good stuff, no doubt, but there is so much good stuff out there, and with Pandora, you can easily help yourself to figure out what you like. And don't like. How can you go wrong?

Your main question is albums/artists/songs. I am a BIG, BIG fan of jazz on the ECM label. http://www.ecmrecords.com/ I'll recommend five to start:
Bob Stenson Trio- Serenity
Tomasz Stanko Quartet- Suspended Night
Keith Jarrett- Tokyo '96 (Live)
Peter Erskine- You Never Know
Nik Bartsch's Ronin- Stoa

Out of these five, the Keith Jarrett album is the most swinging and typical of what people would think of when they think of jazz. The Nik Bartsch's Ronin is groovy/funky beyond belief, but has no swing to it, the other three are lovely "late night jazz" kinds of recordings to chill out to, or to drink in deeply- whatever your preference.

Find stuff you like, and then go to your nearest library or bookstore and see if you can find a copy of the Penguin Guide to Jazz. Any edition will do. Check out the listings/info of the stuff you like, and cross-reference/seek out players who you like who appear on the recordings of others. For instance, Peter Erskine (drums) is not only a band leader, but has been a sideman on many, many albums. I follow his work very closely, and in doing so, I have discovered so many new artists he's played with, which I'd never had known about if I'd never taken an great interest in his playing. It's kinda of like a "Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon" kind of thing- the connections and interconnections of musicians...

Hope this helps.

 

It is indeed a wonderful world ...
Many here have recommended the greats like Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Mingus, etc.. These are by far the best starting point to get a feel for the great jazz works out there and what laid the foundation.

Some more contemporary suggestions:
Pat Metheny - "Bright Sized Life" (Great album, nice Jaco playing is a bonus)
John Patitucci - "Heart of the Bass" (All of his albums are great but this is my favorite)
Chick Corea - "My Spanish Heart" (One of my favorites of his older solo works)
Michael Brecker - "Pilgrimage" (His last album before passing away)

If you like funk and rock, you've gotta check out some more fusion oriented groups like the classic Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, and The Brecker Brothers.

Some other good stuff I've been diggin' lately are Fahir Atakoğlu, Michel Camilo, and Avishai Cohen. Oh, and you can't go wrong with Medeski, Martin, & Wood.

 

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Swiss Movement

 

Matt Till posted some really FABULOUS videos. Just amazing!

The Dizzy video on the Muppet show was great, I doubt you'll see Jazz greats on children's shows these days. The Oscar Peterson, Ornette Coleman, Billy Holliday, and Dave Brubeck videos where also fabulous! I've changed my mind after watching them again ... they're all amazing. I'm floored ... I still can't find the bottom half of my jaw.

Oh yeah, another suggestion, David Bromberg's last album "Downright Upright" was pretty darn good too ... worth checking out.