Jazz

Listen to some miles davis

I recommend Naim Label's own Fred Simon as a high quality but relatively accessible introduction to the genre. Try also Brad Mehldhau. A lot of his stuff is based around covers of Radiohead, Nick Drake, Beatles etc. so the jazz "noodling" is anchored in familiar tunes. I find this makes it easier appreciate. 

Be careful with Miles. "Kind of Blue" deserves its reputation, however. Some of his stuff is "challenging" (Yes, I'm talking to you, Bitch's Brew). But John Coltrane is sublime and generally bit easier in general to get into.

Keith Jarrett and friends are obviously worth listening to, as is a lot of the ECM stuff. Tord Gustavsen is recommended, as is Esbjörn Svensson Trio

It is a huge genre. These are just what springs to mind. Others will have many more suggestions.

Yes that should cure you. 

There was a recent long and in depth thread on this a while back so a search may reap rewards.

Search for american blues and Jazz. Anything around the 20's is a good starting point for your jazz reference. The 50's and 60's were the pinacle of modern(not contemporary) jazz. There are loads of  Jazz lovers on the fotum so it's worth doing a quick search. I could name a couple of  people but this  would only feed their egos. This is just my humble opinion. Just listen to your ears!

KR

Tony

If you can get internet radio, try listening to Swiss Radio Jazz, Groove FM, and some of the others - this will give you a broad sample and you can follow up on things that catch your fancy and determine if you would like to invest in purchasing their music.  A way to find out with no investment what piques your musical interest in the genre.

You could buy the Perfect Jazz Collection box-set [25 original albums]

Most of these albums are easy-listening jazz and offer a fantastic ready made collection for the money.

There's also a volume 2 set with another 25 classic jazz albums,

plus a blues collection box-set too.

These box-sets are around £27 each via Amazon.uk : )

You will get a lot of good advice here.

I will be different.  The greatest jazz advice in the world exists in The Penguin Guide to Jazz by Richard Cook (now sadly deceased) and Brian Morton.  This will be the greatest $25 you will ever spend.  I will add Kind of Blue, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, The Shape of Jazz to Come and A Love Supreme.  If you can find Miles' Live at the Plugged Nickel get that too.

I recommend Naim Label's own Fred Simon as a high quality but relatively accessible introduction to the genre.

Winkyincanada is very wise ... heed his advice! (insert emoticon here). Thanks, Winky!

Be careful with Miles. "Kind of Blue" deserves its reputation, however. Some of his stuff is "challenging" (Yes, I'm talking to you, Bitch's Brew). But John Coltrane is sublime and generally bit easier in general to get into. Keith Jarrett and friends are obviously worth listening to ...

Yes, a novice has to be careful with Miles because he was always moving forward, and some of his work is quite challenging, albeit always of the highest quality. But it's ironic to suggest Coltrane without a similar caveat, because there are some Coltrane albums (Om, Ascension, to name just a couple) that make Miles' Bitches Brew sound like a walk in the park. And although none of Keith Jarrett's music comes close to the cacophony of Coltrane's Ascension, some of his work may be off-putting to some at first.

Actually, the original poster, David, mentioned jazz funk, so even Miles' Kind Of Blue, despite being a masterpiece, may or may not float the OP's boat. For jazz funk, I strongly recommend this specific album, Upfront by David Sanborn ... if the OP doesn't like this, then he doesn't like jazz funk!

Enjoy!

Both of these are great fun

David

As you like Jazz Funk perhaps a few Jazz Funk suggesting would be in order.

Mccoy Tyner's Fly with the wind is worth a listen.

The above features Billy Cobham, also worth a listen.

Not forgetting the Brits, in the 80's Shakatak where probably the most well known British Jazz Funk acts.

The reason you'll have heard Jazz Funk used in demos is the fact they are usually superbly recorded and engineered. Shakatak will sound top notch when played on a mediocre system.

Jumbled Jazz. I think Miles Davis falls into this category,

Another good place to go for exposure to a lot of jazz is this site:

http://www.jazzwithbobparlocha.com/index.html

Bob Parlocha has an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, and I miss that the local station here stopped carrying his show.  This gives you another opportunity to learn which aspects of jazz are the most enticing to your own tastes.

By "jumbled" jazz & assume you mean the modern stuff that is not real relax to music,  sorry folks but Miles Davis is in that category in my book 

Jazz Funk / Fusion / Smooth

Four Play,  nice easy listening at the "Smooth" end of fusion.  

Yellow Jackets are more varied & real "Fusion"

Both bands always make beautifully recorded discs & apart from making a very relaxed sound they really do make you sit up & listen with both music & some startling recordings.  

See how you get on with 2 or 3 from each band & if you like what you hear, then the world is full of all kinds of similar.  

Also try some Diana Krall & Carol Kidd for lounge/club female voice

As you like blues,  a "must MUST have" is Kenny Burrell "Midnight Blue"

I recommend Carmen Gomes inc.or Poul Berner Band on the SoundLiaison label, fantastic well recorded jazz with a very laid back atmosphere,maybe even too laid back?

But what a voice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKpiQ2qr6uo

Yes, that's true.  Most people who are into jazz seem to have got into it via "Kind of Blue" , the biggest-selling jazz album of all time, an album which is both brilliant and universally accessible.

However, go straight into the 1969-75 period and you may find yourself scratching your head or running away screaming. Brilliant this music may be, but instantly toe-tapping it is not.

FWIW, here are my nominations for 10 albums with which to start a jazz collection:

No. 2

Three - probably the most important recordings in the history of jazz:

Jazz as its most spiritual:

From the master of swing:

Numbers 5 to 10. Get these (and the five preceding), or listen to them, and you should have an idea of what jazz is all about.

The most important and influential post-war jazz pianist is Bill Evans, who is IMO, the prime mover (not Miles) on Kind of Blue. This album was recorded live with the brilliant bassist Scott La Faro:

A stone cold classic from jazz bass titan Charlie Mingus:

Aside from Duke, Thelonius Monk wrote more jazz standards than anyone:

Superb example of the Blue Note sound

No band ever swung with as must gusto as the Count's. This is one of his best 1950s albums:

I've left out the Duke. Along with Armstrong, Duke Ellington is the single most important figure in jazz, with over 1,000 compositions to his name (he was a fabulous, rather elliptical piano player as well). There are few things more majestic to behold than the Ellington orchestra in full flight. Duke deserves his own post, and here are the five albums I'd recommend:

Blues in Orbit

The Blanton-Webster Band, a collection of master takes of all the recordings by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during the years of 1940 to 1942, involving bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Duke at his most innovative, full of wonderful three-minute symphonies, including the unsurpassed "Harlem Air Shaft":

Slightly mis-named, but the best of Duke's "conceptual" albums from the 60s:

A collection of early Ducal masterpieces from the 20s and early 30s:

The band at its most irresistable, with Louis Bellson on drums providing real rhythmic drive:

David, if you like funk, I suggest this Herbie Hancock album:

Byrd was a great favourite with the jazz-funk crowd, this is perhaps his best:

Herbie Hancock went through a mega-funk phase in the 1970s, here are the three best, and funkiest, after "Headhunters" (above):