Help Where to start with jazz?????

Here are some representative works from each of the periods.

Early Jazz--Louis Armstrong Hot Five or Hot Seven recordings.

Swing--Ellington,Live at Newport.

Bop--Charles Parker,Ornathology

Cool--Miles Davis,Kind of Blue

Hard Bop--Coltrane,Giant Steps

Modern--Bill Evans,Sunday Afternoon at the Vanguard.

Mark C. Gridley wrote a one volume jazz history that is an excellent read,much better than most textbooks. He includes lists of recordings.

For starters I'd recommend educating yourself by viewing something like the Ken Burns Jazz series, which you can probably rent. It's not perfect, but there is a huge range of jazz styles and so many performers. And This will give you an idea of the how the syles developed.

In a similar vein to PBB's suggetion above, I highly recommend Leornard Berstein's - Bernstein on Jazz. This recording features Bernstein talking about what to listen for in Jazz. It also includes separate performances with Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck. I only recently came across this gem, after 7+ years of heavy Jazz listening. It's still not too late for me to learn from it, and I strongly recommend it to those just getting started.

Buy a copy of AllMusic Guide to Jazz. When you next listen to this radio station pay attention to who is playing. Then research the artist in this guide and buy one of his more highly recommended discs. Often you can also get some hints about who to try next by watching who his sidemen are and researching them as well. That way you'll not waste money on records/artists that you aren't ready for or don't like (yet) and you will still be spending all you can afford on a jazz library that you will enjoy.

Wow, thanks for all the responses. It's really overwhelming! Just in the past few minutes I've enjoyed songs by BEN ALLISON, BABATUNE LEA, AKIRA TANA, LEE MORGAN, DONALD BYRD... Where does the good news stop!

I did see Ken Burns documentary last year and loved it. I was also at that time overwhelmed. Guess I just gota start with a few and network from there.

Thank god for the local jazz station: all that free music and no ads. guess I gotta make a pledge now.