These are in no particular order.
- Billie Holiday --- The Complete Decca Recordings.
Some have said this isn't jazz, given the arrangements, but Billie sang everything her own way, different each time, and that is really the root of jazz anyway. Here she is at the peak of her vocal powers.
- Charles Mingus --- Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.
I get the feeling this is one of Mingus' most honest album-length statements, and therefore it's violently tumultuous and dark as the Plague, but spiked with moments of lyricism.
- John Coltrane --- A Love Supreme.
An obvious favorite. Sounds not dated at all, and much more coherent than some of his later experiments. One of the greatest bands ever, in any genre.
- Miles Davis --- Dark Magus.
Again, an album many people call "non-jazz", which is ridiculous, since these musicians improvise over the entire set. The compositions could be more together, but the raw vitality and inventiveness of the playing is a reminder that jazz can exist in the electric age.
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk --- Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata.
A deeply personal and creative disc from one of music's most singular players. Includes the best version of "Day Dream" I've ever heard.
- Bud Powell --- The Best of Bud Powell on Verve.
Though his tone was ragged, the sweep of his on-the-spot inventions creates worlds.
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