Jazz enthusiasts I need your help

Let me first get this out of the way: I am uncultured swine. I know little or nothing about jazz. However, my dad loves the stuff and his birthday is coming up. All I can figure out to get for his birthday (He's one of those people who you ask what they want for birthday/christmas and they annoyingly reply world peace, he's freaking impossible to shop for) is a couple jazz CDs.
I humbly request your help. I know he would prefer instrumental, because he listens to it when he reads or is just relaxing.
Any and all help is much appreciated - only catch is since I don't exactly live in a hotbed of culture it needs to be some what common.

Thanks again.

 

Do you know what kind of jazz he likes - Old school or modern? Miles Davis "Think of Blue" belongs in everyone's CD library whether they like jazz or not. Stan Getz and Dave Brubeck are personal faves. If you can find it, the box set from Ken Burns documentary Jazz is a good one as well. Everything from the earliest recordings to Herbie Hancock. Speaking of Herbie, he won the Grammy for Album of the Year for his latest jazz recording.
Hope it helps.

 

I think Dan meant to say "Kind of Blue", Miles' most popular album. Easily the record I would have playing on repeat on a deserted island, if if ever fell out of a FedEx plane in the Pacific and had to pick one.

But if your pops already likes jazz, I would bet he already owns it, and likely a lot of older standard-issue records that fill out most enthusiasts' collections.

Newer guys, like Charlie Hunter, and veteran guys in newer directions, like John Scofield or Bill Frisell, might be a good direction to go. All three are guitar players, but it would be tough to find a record any of these guys have put out in the past 5 years that disappoints.

 

Blue Trane.

 

I wouldn't try to buy music for an avid jazz fan. They have their tastes and obsessions and heroes and probably have a pretty solid collection of the masterworks already. Try something like this instead, if it makes sense:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ELLA-FITZGERALD-JAZZ-SINGER-POSTER-61-X-91-5-cm-PR3178_W0QQitemZ180239985386QQihZ008QQcategoryZ28009QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

That dude, Coltrane, was nuts -- or, at least, extremely dedicated and structured. He used to lock himself in a room and practice the same scale, riffing off it, for 13 hours at a time. It's no wonder he was as good as he was.

I'm a Buddy Rich guy, myself. If your dad loves the drums, you can't go wrong. Miles Davis is great, too.

 

If he's got plenty of Miles Davis and Coltrane, et al., I also like Lee Morgan. "The Sidewinder" would be the CD I pick.

 

Beef-boy, It's kinda hard to make suggestions because jazz covers a multitude of sins.

DanO hit some of the high points. I would also suggest Coleman Hawkins and Oscar Peterson. His "Canadiana Suite" is as good as it gets IMHO.

You're a good son.

 

Always thought Lionel Hampton was underrated.

 

He may not have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Thelonious-Monk-Quartet-Coltrane-Carnegie/dp/B000AV2GCE



It turned up covered with dust in the Voice Of America archives a couple of years ago.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4946796

 

Highly recommended. A tremendous find.

 

Everyone, thank you for your help. Some excellent suggestions.
I think he said he likes the older stuff, but to a complete novice (if I even hit that level) like myself, I likely wouldn't know the difference from old to new. I know I've gotten him some Thelonious Monk in the past on his request, but at this point I'm not exactly sure what he has and doesn't have. and he lives four hours away so it's tough to go flip through his collection to see.
Again thank you everyone. I think I might get him a three or four of your reccomendations, just to cover the bases.