re: Anyone here enjoy Jazz?

My 2 main listening genres are jazz and metal. Both are outside of the commercial realm and feature musicians playing their asses off. I got hooked on jazz at Baton Rouge High in the late 70s by hearing the jazz ensemble play when I was a freshman, and the live sound just grabbed me. Musically, it's just more interesting, and the improv aspect makes the live performance more unique. Jazz to me isn't really a "mood" music, it's an adventure and a musical conversation between the players at its best.

Big fan of Mingus, Miles, Monk, Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, etc. I also like some avant garde stuff which is decidedly NOT elevator music in any way shape or form. Coltrane's last couple of years moved strongly that way and he lost a lot of fans. Albert Ayler "Love Cry" on Impulse is a great intro to him - shorter versions of tunes that are more digestible.

Big fan too of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messgengers. The group started with pianist Horace Silver and those two are basically the "high priests" of the hard bop style. Blakey & Silver both have a long list of great records.

Joe Henderson made several great records in the 60s for Blue Note. Almost anything from the mid 50s through late 60s on Blue Note is great.