Kind of Blue

Anything by Ben Webster

Cannonball Adderley: Something Else (Same personnel as KOB sans Coletrane) 

Oliver Nelson: The Blues & Abstract Truth, Screaming the Blues

Joe Henderson: Mode for Joe

Walter Booker: Bookiie's Cookbook 

I like the album Something Else with Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley. Anything that came out of Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey at that time sounds great. +1 on Ben Webster as well.

The Rudy Van Gelder remasters on Blue Note were an indication to me that digital had hope. These are all great! I’ve now crossed almost entirely to the Dark Side…

When I wan t to shock people with how good old recordings sound, I almost always pull out jazz examples.  Almost any late 50's or 60's "six-eye" Columbia sounds great (my demonstration go to is Ellington's "Blues in Orbit" which is late 50's stereo and better than most current stereo recordings for quality; the subsequent reissues, even is SACD do not sound as good).  Another demonstration choice is Sonny Rollins' "Saxophone Colossus" (a GREAT recording for music and sound quality and it is on available in mono).  

Old, original release Blue Notes are way too expensive for me to own, but, I have heard them and I like them fore than the premium reissues, although those are still quite good and worth having).