I need a little help. Would someone list here a few jazz albums that are
considered by the whole world to be a must have. Something like the holy
grail of jazz. thanks.

In the past, I served as a jazz critic and have had the wonderful opportunity to listen to many jazz recording. However, I have not heard every jazz session so obviously I'll leave out many outstanding recordings. Please realize that any recommendations I make are subjective - what suits my taste. I'm recommending recordings that are more accessible rather than cutting edge, figuring you can work up to the more complex ones as your own ear develops. There are many great jazz recording and I suggest using The Allmusic Guide to help build your jazz collection. A short list of those I recommend are as follows:

Cannonball Adderly & MIles Davis - Something Else
Art Balkey - Moanin'
Clifford Brown & Max Roach - At Basin Street
John Coltrane - Blue Train
John Coltrane - Soutrane
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Miles Davis - Milestones
Bill Evans - Portrait In Jazz
Red Garland - Red Garland's Piano
Stan Getz & J.J. Johnson - At The Opera House
Dexter Gordan - Go
Grant Green - Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark
Jackie McLean - Swing, Swang, Swung
Hank Mobley - Another Workout
Lee Morgan - Candy
Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar
Charlie Parket - The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
Art Pepper - Meets The Rhythm Section
Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
Sonny Rollins - The Bridge
Horace Silver - And The Jazz Messengers
Horace Silver - Song For My Father
Jimmy Smith - The Sermon
Sonny Stitt - Endgame Brillance
Lester Young - With The Oscar Peterson Trio

Good list, Bozak Ron. I'd have to add at least 4, though.
1. Lee Morgan, Live at the Lighthouse.
2. Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, A Night in Tunisia.
3. Oliver Nelson, Blues & the Abstract Truth.
4. Thelonius Monk, Brilliant Corners.

Very nice list Bozak Ron, very sweet :music:

also consider ( :yes: )

Wes meets Bags (Wes Montgomery and Milt Jackson)
Cookin' - Miles Davis
Steamin' - Miles Davis
Smokin at the Blue Note' - Wes Montgomery
Midnight Blue - Kenny Burrell

These are usually in my "must have Travel Discs" :banana:

I'll add a few more to an already fine selection....

Dave Brubeck - Time Out
Dave Brubeck - London Flat, London Sharp
McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy
McCoy Tyner - w/Stanley Clarke and Al Foster
McCoy Tyner - Illuminations
McCoy Tyner - New York Reunion
Johnny Griffin - A Blowin' Session
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Hank Mobley - Soul Station, Roll Call, No Room For Squares.....heck, just get them all.
Dave Holland Big Band - What Goes Around
Dave Holland Big Band - Overtime
Sonny Clark - Dial "S" For Sonny
Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib
Clifford Brown - Study In Brown, Brown and Roach Inc (on Emarcy) Memorial Album, Jazz Immortal (on Blue Note)
Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges
Cliff Jordan & John Gilmore - Blowing In From Chicago

With these and all the rest that should be a good start.:)

Drybasement, I'm with you. Hank Mobley is my main man. Love the sound of his tenor and his music, for me, is the epitome of the Blue Note sound. Have all the Mobley I can get my hands on.

Drybasement, I'm with you. Hank Mobley is my main man. Love the sound of his tenor and his music, for me, is the epitome of the Blue Note sound. Have all the Mobley I can get my hands on.

Of all the tenor saxophonists, and there have been many, Mobley is perhaps my favorite. Like you, I love his sound and most importantly, the music he composed. Coltrane gets lots and lots of accolades, and deservedly so, but Mobley appeals to me far more.

Another favorite of mine is Tina Brooks.

Cheers

Off the top of my head, I'd have to add:

Grant Green - Matador
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Rip, Rig and Panic
Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins
Donald Byrd - A New Perspective
Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream

Great suggestions - I have to add:

Dexter Gordon - "Our Man in Paris"
Art Pepper - "Smack Up"
Stan Kenton - "Back to Balboa"

Paquito d'Rivera - Portraits of Cuba
Grant Green - Grant Stand

Forget to mention that often I'm asked what one song epitomizes the essence of fine jazz. I always tell the person to listen to The Way You Look Tonight (yes, that old Sinatra standard) off the Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins recording. Rollins tenor solo is simply amazing. He captures the passion, poetry, and wonder of jazz in a short 5 minutes.

The Allmusic Guide states that: the standout here is the wonderfully effervescent handling of The Way You Look Tonight. Rollins attacks it with a major spirit and plays with an euphoria rarely matched in recorded jazz. It is just one of the fine elements on the record, but one I'd alone recommend the record for, and, in fact, have many times.

Does it for me.

How 'bout: Miles Davis -Round about midnight.
Grant Green - Idle Moments.
Sonny Rollins - Way Out West.
Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'
Bill Evans Trio - Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Just to add a few to an already great list...David

Great list so far...looks like my jazz collection :scratch2: just wanted to add a few more.

Gene Ammons "Funky
"Kenny Burrell with John Coltrane"
Kenny Burrell "Bluesy Burrell"
Lou Donaldson "Blues Walk"
Duke Ellington "Money JUngle"
Anything by Art Blakey

Thanks alot guys that should keep me busy for awhile.