I've never really heard much jazz before. Can you give me some essentials to get into it?
user
Sure, here are some great jazz albums to try out:

Billie Holiday: Portrait of a Lady (with Sidney Bechet)

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

Dizzy Gillespie: Night in Tunisia

Astrud Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz and João Gilberto: The Girl from Ipanema

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus

Coltrane: Giant Steps

Bobby Hutcherson: The Kinetic

Billy Strayhorn: The Very Thought of You

McCoy Tyner: McCoy Tyner Plays the Blues
assistant
Wow, those are a lot. Can you give me a top 5 artists you think I should look into?
user
That’s tough...well, I can give you my personal top 5.

Branford Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Terence Blanchard

Miles Davis

Joe Henderson
assistant
Are those two Marsalis people related?
user
Well, yes!  Branford and Wynton are brothers.  In fact, both of them were music students of Stan Getz, so it makes sense that they have similar styles.
assistant
I've never really heard much jazz before. Can you give me some essentials to get into it?
user
Sure, here are some great jazz albums to try out:

Billie Holiday: Portrait of a Lady (with Sidney Bechet)

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

Dizzy Gillespie: Night in Tunisia

Astrud Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz and João Gilberto: The Girl from Ipanema

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus

Coltrane: Giant Steps

Bobby Hutcherson: The Kinetic

Billy Strayhorn: The Very Thought of You

McCoy Tyner: McCoy Tyner Plays the Blues
assistant
Wow, those are a lot. Can you give me a top 5 artists you think I should look into?
user
That’s tough...well, I can give you my personal top 5.

Branford Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Terence Blanchard

Miles Davis

Joe Henderson
assistant
Are those two Marsalis people related?
user
Haha, that’s a good question.  It’s an example of a “stage name” or “nickname”, where a musician will use the same name or nickname that a famous relative uses.  Wynton is the son of Branford, and Miles was Miles Davis’s son.  Many famous artists use this kind of thing, though.
assistant
I've never really heard much jazz before. Can you give me some essentials to get into it?