Need more jazz - recommendations please :-)

Not so much a Miles Davis fan, & haven't heard much from John Coltrane. As for the Dave Brubeck Quartet, I only like their Time Out album and didn't really care much for the rest.

Bill Evans - Waltz for Debbie (esp the 1st track, My Foolish Heart)

Gerry Mulligan - Night Lights

Paul Desmond - Bossa Antigua

Because each artist has so many fabulous albums to choose from, no one disc is going to be a definitive next step…the thing about each of these artists is that it's easy to go in vastly different directions…here's some suggestions if you wanna stay right where you're at for a minute, though……

1. Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight or Bag's Groove or Someday My Prince Will Come

2. John Coltrane - maybe step up to his Atlantic stuff, like Giant Steps or My Favorite Things

3. Dave Brubeck - Time Further Out and then maybe one of Paul Desmond's solo albums after that, like Take Ten…

Hope this helps…

... I can only speak on this from the bias of my personal preferences, but I would definitely follow up with "John Coltrane - Giant Steps", and "Miles Davis - Live at the BlackHawk (San Francisco)" ... If you're fairly new to Jazz, Giant Steps may sound a bit harsh & convoluted at first, but you will eventually be able to ear-ride the harmonic-waves of the songs' changes: once you can hear the changes in the solo-opening of "Countdown", you're there ... As far as Miles goes, unfortunately, IMO, it doesn't get much better, if-at-all, than Kind Of Blue ... Granted, I have not heard all Miles had to offer, but I have heard enough to make this judgement ...

I also recommend these titles, some of my favorites:

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin'

Freddie Hubbard - Hub Cap

Joe Pass - Virtuoso

... Best Wishes exploring this mind-blowing history & present that is JAZZ ...

After those three albums this is where I'd go:

Early Jarrett

Some Live Oscar Peterson

Lee Morgan

Andre Previn (maybe not as famous for his jazz performances as his classical conducting, but this is a solid album, and more importantly is very accessible to those new to jazz.)

I would echo the Waltz for Debby recommendation.  Continuing Miles, if you want his earlier work I would go with his first Columbia album Round About Midnight. For his later ouvre, I would go with his first (and in my opinion best over Bitches Brew) fusion album, In a Silent Way. For Brubeck you can try Time Further Out or Time In.  For Trane I would try out Giant Steps. Besides being the next logical album to try it is his best album in my opinion.  Also you could hear him and Thelonious Monk playing live at Carnegie Hall, which is a good introduction to Monk as well.

... Nice, Radio_head ... I-too think Jarrett is great to get into ... I would also recommend:

Keith Jarrett - My Song

... It's not really that-early (1978), but while most of the tracks are really 'accessible', a few of them border free-jazz and could make for a really interesting listen for digitaldave, so he can find out if he likes that sound too ...

OH OSCAR !! ... What a great one, I would start out with his "Best of Songbooks" (Verve, I think) ... Basically a lot of standards spanning his 50s recordings ... Great Stuff !! ...

... Check this out, pretty awesome:

…yeah, I gotta say that personally I get off the boat at earlier Jarrett…to me, that's a different direction than Miles in the late '50s, and there're smoother gateways into "free-jazz"…

Just thought of another disc that could follow Kind Of Blue, though: Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else. Cannonball is the alto saxist on KOB, and Miles returns the favor on Somethin' Else…so many viable suggestions…

... Yeah Tru, thanks for the input ... {^..~} ... I knew this was going to happen, haha: I'm not really a Miles fan, so my own preferences began to cloud what Dave is looking for ... It happens.  Best Wishes, Dave !!
 

Miles - Birth of the Cool or Steamin'

Recommendations for Brubeck & Coltrane already mentioned above are good.

Also, don't forget about the wealth of talent making jazz music today! Checkout:

Dave Douglas - Orange Afternoons

Omer Avital - Live at Smalls

Ambrose Akinmusire - When the Heart Emerges Glistening

The Roy Hargrove Quntet - Ear Food

These music threads always make me end up buying more myself.  Just ordered Previn's 10 CD Jazz Recordings Box Set.  At $13 ($16 Shipped) it's a great price for someone who was always underrated as a jazz pianist due to his other accomplishments overshadowing his jazz prowess.  There's a great series you can see on youtube with Previn and Peterson playing together (two pianos) interspersed with some truly insightful interviews between the two.  I love how Oscar can deconstruct the Jazz genesis in just a few short minutes of hands-on demonstrations.

Adderly's Somethin' Else is another great beginner's album that would lead me to suggest two others.  Joe Zawinul's eponymous album (Zawinul played with Davis and Adderly) and Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch (Also played with Adderly) Dolphy is a good transition into both Post-Bop jazz as well as one of the more easily accessible avenues to Avant-Garde Jazz.

DigitalDave, one thing about Jazz is that you may find certain movements/eras/styles to be more to your taste than others.  Here is a fairly accurate brief overview of the periods of Jazz music.  When you find one you like, you can start out by concentrating on all the big names from that era and style.  

Check out John Coltrane's albums Giant Steps, Soultrane, and Traneing In for sure. I love these. Also, check out Paul Chambers' albums Whims of Chambers and Bass On Top. Also, Sonny Clark's albums are great as well.
 

Whut nobody recommended Ella and Billie?!

Ella Fitzgerald + Louis Armstrong albums
Billie Holiday

Etta Jones
Etta James
Sam Cooke(he's more Soul than anything though)

AMY WINEHOUSE! :)

People have been suggesting things in line with where the OP had started going.

You are recommending vocalists.  Once you open that door... there's a whole lot out there.  (Ella and Billie among them.)