The Blue Note Years, Volume 4: Hard Bop & Beyondby Various Artists

You might have quibbles with some of the choices here, but they're really just quibbles. As a starter album for hard bop lovers-to-be, this is an excellent collection of the major artists, except for John Coltrane and Miles Davis, both of who had hard bop masterpieces to their name (Giant Steps, Blue Trane, Dear Old Stockholm and Milestones). But there's a reason for that - all were recorded for Prestige or Columbia. Still, as a best hard bop of the Blue Note label, this is just brilliant. It starts with Cheese Cake (where else?) and features the rest of the real masterpieces: Song For My Father, Maiden Voyage, Mode For Joe, Footprints, Speak No Evil, Passion Dance, Hub-Tones, Mosaic, Canteloupe Is., etc. Get it. You'll love it.