Jazz CD suggestions for evening ambience


I'm wondering what Audiogoners might suggest in terms of (fairly) widely available Jazz CDs for a tasteful restaurant (asian fusion cuisine, large metropolitan setting). I'm helping with the aural planning so to speak. At the moment we find Bill Evans well-suited to ideal; Thelonious Monk provides great ambience but is at times a bit too pensive and slow for this particular environment; Marvin Gaye supplies ample classic retro from time to time, but is a tad too recognizable. All comments/suggestions &/or pointers are greatly appreciated.
agonanon

Showing 1 response by lngbruno

Last year I assisted my brother in a similar task for his retail business. He has received very positive feedback from his patrons:

Below are some of what he has in his collection:

CBS Sampler – no boundaries
Chesky Records – collection series 1
Columbia Records – on the jazz tip volumes 1, 2, & 4; audio file ‘96
Concord Jazz – stretch records sampler ‘97
CTI – windows collection 1 & 2
DMP Sampler – carved in stone; cat tracks, at taste of DMP; 20-Bit Digital Jazz
Fahrenheit Sampler – the first four seasons; ’96 taste test; jazz sampler ‘98
GRP – all star big band; all star big band live; live in session; super live; 10th anniversary collection
Heads Up Records – collections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; africa straight ahead
Higher Octave Music – collections 1 & 2; evolution; world fusion
Instinct Records – new voices 4; love boss a style; this is smooth jazz 5, africa
JVC Sampler – world class music
MCA Sampler – fall ’97; spring into summer ’88 and ‘89
Slimstyle Records – swing this baby
Swingtime – big band artist
Verve Sampler – cool city sounds; pure jazz;
Warner Bros. – best of smooth jazz 1, 2, 3, & 4

Most of the above can be found at used stores or online at places like www.half.com as we did.

Also, go to www.jazziz.com and review their monthly samplers. We ended up with quite a few of those too.

Go luck with the restaurant,
L