Great list Myles. The Coltrane/Hartman album has spent a good bit of time on my turntable. At Monterey this year, there was a tribute to Johnny Hartman with Kurt Elling and Ernie Watts playing the Coltrane riffs. Killer! I wonder about how accessible the other Impulse/Coltrane releases are. The duet with Ellington, Crescent, Ballads and African/Brass are all fantastic. Jeez, I'm not even sure who owns MCA records anymore.
Something Else is my favorite Miles album that isn't a Miles album.
Paul should be with you on the Evans/Bennett. He worked on that one. Evans can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned (musically that is).
Your classical picks are all winners and several of the Decca's have been suggested before I believe.
I'm a real Mahler lover but considering the length, I think Sym #1 is about all we can hope for. And even though I have tons of lp's of his works, seeing a live performance will even bring a hermit like me out into the open.
I have the Varese and Cage around here somewhere and I've always had a special love of the new(er) composers (even the popular ones like Reich and Glass). Every now and then I pull out the ones that just stymied me before to see if I understand it now. Lots of great recording from guys like Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Elliot Carter, Ligetti. If you really want an interesting record, Arch records made one called "American Text Sounds" or thereabouts. When folks start pulling out their really obscure stuff, this one's a trump! Actually I just picked up "Word Jazz" with Ken Nordine. I have to remember to give it a listen. The unlistened to pile of reel to reel tapes has really gotten out of hand this year. Gotta get on it!