Vesuvius, Great idea for a thead. I had in mind something similiar. I first began listening to jazz in the late 60s, and I have been following developments pretty intensely for the last 20 years.
As a teacher, I've tried to find creative ways to introduce my students to jazz, to give them some sense both of its enormously rich history and of its wide-ranging and very creative contemporary practitioners. One of the techniques I've been working on in recent years is creating sets of playlists, given that most of my students listen to things on their iPods / iPhones. In creating these playlists, I've put some tough restrictions on my selections, namely, to make sure any given playlist would fit on a single CD and thus be under 80 minutes. I've deliberately chosen a wide spread of things (generally no more than one track per record -- though a few exceptions), but tried to sequence them so that there is a good flow from track to track. While I do try to give a range of artists and albums, I'm concerned less with completeness and more with capturing my students' attention, so that they'll begin to pursue things on their own initiative. I've tried to set out the history of jazz over the last 50 or so years (56 to be precise), keeping it limited to 6 playlists that are the equivalent of 6 CDs. So I post this in hopes that it might prove useful to newcomers who happen to explore this realm of the forum. I don't want to overload this post. So I'll distribute the 6 playlists over 3 postings.
Playlist #1: Miles Davis
1. So What (9:25) (from Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, 1959)
2. Flamenco Sketches (9:26) (from Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, 1959)
3. Milestones (5:46) (from Miles Davis, Milestones, 1958)
4. Summertime (3:21) (from Miles Davis, Porgy & Bess, 1958)
5. Joshua (7:00) (from Miles Davis, Seven Steps to Heaven, 1963)
6. Eighty-One (6:18) (from Miles Davis, E.S.P., 1965)
7. Masqualero (8:54) (from Miles Davis, Sorcerer, 1967)
8. Pharaoh's Dance (20:07) (from Miles Davis, Bitches Brew, 1969)
9. Black Satin (5:20) (from Miles Davis, On the Corner, 1972)
10. Time After Time (3:41) (from Miles Davis, Essential Miles Davis, 1986)
Playlist #2: John Coltrane
1. Blue Train (10:44) (from John Coltrane, Blue Train, 1957)
2. Giant Steps (4:47) (from John Coltrane, Giant Steps, 1960)
3. Naima (4:25) (from John Coltrane, Giant Steps, 1960)
4. Impressions (6:32) (from John Coltrane, Coltrane (Impulse!), 1962)
5. Wise One (9:04) (from John Coltrane, Crescent, 1964)
6. Afro Blue (10:53) (from John Coltrane, Live at Birdland, 1963)
7. In a Sentimental Mood (4:17) (from Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, 1962)
8. Africa (16:29) (from John Coltrane, Africa / Brass Sessions, 1961)
9. Acknowledgement (7:43) (from John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, 1964)