Amazon.com is compiling a series of “100 Greatest Albums” lists, selected by its editors, throughout 2009; the “100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums” list has previously been posted in the Forum. Here’s the latest, Amazon’s 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time (http://tinyurl.com/oyonxk):

1. Ornette Coleman, THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME
2. John Coltrane, A LOVE SUPREME
3. Charlie Parker / Dizzy Gillespie, BIRD AND DIZ
4. Miles Davis, KIND OF BLUE
5. Ella Fitzgerald / Louis Armstrong, ELLA AND LOUIS
6. Stan Getz / Joao Gilberto, GETZ/GILBERTO
7. Erroll Garner, CONCERT BY THE SEA
8. Charles Mingus, THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY
9. Wayne Shorter, SPEAK NO EVIL
10. Thelonious Monk, STRAIGHT, NO CHASER
11. Keith Jarrett, THE KOLN CONCERT
12. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, MOANIN’
13. CHET BAKER SINGS
14. John Coltrane, BLUE TRAIN
15. Eric Dolphy, OUT TO LUNCH!
16. Art Tatum, PIANO STARTS HERE
17. Dexter Gordon, GO!
18. Count Basie, AT NEWPORT
19. Alice Coltrane, JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA
20. Dave Brubeck, TIME OUT
21. EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS
22. DUKE ELLINGTON & JOHN COLTRANE
23. John Zorn, NAKED CITY
24. LOUIS ARMSTRONG PLAYS W.C. HANDY
25. Thelonious Monk Quartet w/ John Coltrane, AT CARNEGIE HALL
26. CLIFFORD BROWN AND MAX ROACH
27. Dizzy Gillespie, AFRO
28. Miles Davis, SKETCHES OF SPAIN
29. Pharoah Sanders, KARMA
30. Abbey Lincoln, STRAIGHT AHEAD
31. CHARLIE PARKER WITH STRINGS
32. Cannonball Adderley, SOMETHIN’ ELSE
33. Billie Holiday, LADY IN SATIN
34. Coleman Hawkins, BODY AND SOUL
35. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, A NIGHT IN TUNISIA
36. Stephane Grappelli, AFTERNOON IN PARIS
37. Andrew Hill, COMPULSION
38. Thelonious Monk, MONK’S DREAM
39. The Bad Plus, SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
40. Miles Davis, BITCHES BREW
41. Herbie Hancock, TAKIN’ OFF
42. Benny Goodman, THE FAMOUS CARNEGIE HALL JAZZ CONCERT
43. OSCAR PETERSON TRIO AT THE STRATFORD SHAKESPEAREAN FESTIVAL
44. Lee Morgan, THE SIDEWINDER
45. Duke Ellington / Louis Armstrong, THE GREAT SUMMIT
46. George Gershwin, GERSHWIN PLAYS RHAPSODY IN BLUE
47. Grant Green, IDLE MOMENTS
48. Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra, SECRETS OF THE SUN
49. Patricia Barber, MYTHOLOGIES
50. CHARLES MINGUS PRESENTS CHARLES MINGUS
51. Duke Ellington, SUCH SWEET THUNDER
52. Carmen McRae, THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK
53. Blossom Dearie, ONCE UPON A SUMMERTIME
54. Cecil Taylor, UNIT STRUCTURES
55. Lionel Hampton / Stan Getz, HAMP & GETZ
56. NANCY WILSON/CANNONBALL ADDERLEY
57. David Axelrod, SONG OF INNOCENCE
58. Weather Report, HEAVY WEATHER
59. Albert Ayler, SLUG’S SALOON
60. Branford Marsalis, TRIO JEEPY
61. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, WE FREE KINGS
62. Shirley Horn, TRAVELIN’ LIGHT
63. Sonny Rollins, A NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD
64. Diana Krall, LIVE IN PARIS
65. CLIFFORD BROWN WITH STRINGS
66. Milt Jackson / John Coltrane, BAGS & TRANE
67. Kenny Burrell, MIDNIGHT BLUE
68. Etta Jones, DON’T GO TO STRANGERS
69. Herb Ellis, ELLIS IN WONDERLAND
70. Vince Guaraldi Trio, JAZZ IMPRESSIONS OF BLACK ORPHEUS
71. Duke Ellington / Rosemary Clooney, BLUE ROSE
72. ART PEPPER MEETS THE RHYTHM SECTION
73. HELEN MERRILL
74. Oliver Nelson, THE BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH
75. Stanley Clarke, SCHOOL DAYS
76. Brad Mehldau, ELEGIAC CYCLE
77. Joshua Redman, WISH
78. Jason Moran, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
79. Ahmad Jamal, AHMAD’S BLUES
80. Moondog, SAX PAX FOR A SAX
81. Wynton Marsalis, BLACK CODES (FROM THE UNDERGROUND)
82. Duke Pearson, THE RIGHT TOUCH
83. THE ASTRUD GILBERTO ALBUM
84. Chick Corea, RETURN TO FOREVER
85. Bill Frisell, BLUES DREAM
86. Sarah Vaughan / Lester Young, ONE NIGHT STAND – THE TOWN HALL CONCERT 1947
87. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS
88. The Art Ensemble of Chicago, FULL FORCE
89. BELA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES
90. Jimmy Scott, MOOD INDIGO
91. Elis Regina / Antonio Carlos Jobim, ELIS & TOM
92. Pat Metheny Group, OFFRAMP
93. STAN GETZ AND THE OSCAR PETERSON TRIO
94. Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet, HUSKY
95. Cuong Vu, COME PLAY WITH ME
96. Anthony Braxton, FIVE COMPOSITIONS (quartet) - 1986
97. Madeleine Peyroux, CARELESS LOVE
98. JACO PASTORIUS
99. Max Roach, M’BOOM
100. Robert Glasper, IN MY ELEMENT

Surprisingly decent list. I'm glad that The Shape Of Jazz To Come, Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Concert By The Sea, and The Koln Concert are so high, and that A Love Supreme is above Kind of Blue. Also glad that Krall's Live in Paris made it.

Only 1 Herbie Hancock album? And the worst of his beginning albums (pre-Mwandishi.)

so this is a good list? i'm looking to get into jazz, so would the top 10 or so records in the list be the best place to start?

(i mean, looking at the AM profile for miles davis makes me faint!)