I was listening to Sing, Sing, Sing on the way to work this morning, and think this Benny Goodman album deserves a plug.
Go to redhotjazz.com. Great site: lots of info on early jazz, and audio too. Get yourself Total Recorder and make your own CDs.
As long as we’re plugging web sites, I might as well plug my own. I collect and remaster 78s and make them available at swazoo.com. Each month I put up a dozen records with a different theme. This month’s theme is jazz, and the performers are the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, Mound City Blue Blowers, Eddie Lang and Carl Kress, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk, Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, Adrian Rollini and Frank Trumbauer.
I’ve got to second the Ken Burns jazz recommendation. I’ve got the 10 DVD box set and it is comprehensive. The history of the greats in a nutshell.
Being a singer I prefer vocal jazz to instrumental and Ella Fitzgerald is the absolute best.