JazzWax List: 10 for Starters

Last week a friend asked me to recommend a jazz compilation for someone new to jazz. I resisted, telling him that they're all death traps. First, they're loaded with old things (pre-World War II) that are great later but certainly would turn off a newcomer. Second, compilation song choices often stink.

Instead, I urged him simply to buy 10 albums that would win over a newcomer and put him or her firmly on the road to discovery. “But choosing 10 is impossible," he protested.

Not so. Here are 10 albums I would play or buy for a beginner who's curious about the music. And I'd do so in the following order, to draw in the person little by little (all are available as downloads):

1. Bill Evans--How My Heart Sings (1962)
2. Oscar Peterson--Plays the Jerome Kern Songbook (1956)
   
3. Dave Brubeck--Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958)
4. Miles Davis--Musings of Miles (1955)
5. Sonny Rollins--Newk's Time (1957)
6. Lee Morgan--Lee-Way (1960)
7. Red Garland--It's a Blue World (1958)
8. Coleman Hawkins--Night Hawk (1960)
9. John Coltrane--Stardust (1958)
10. Jack McDuff--The Honeydripper (1961)