I think it's a really good decade for jazz, despite the historical rap that this is when everything went to hell, fusion took over, etc. The aforementioned Joe Henderson and McCoy Tyner Milestone dates, Art Pepper on Contemporary and Galaxy, Miles' electric period, Braxton, the AEC, Shaw and a lot of other artists recorded on the Muse label, Dexter on Steeplechase, Jarrett--yeah, quite a lot there. It's the decade from which I'm most likely to find a really interesting, previously-overlooked record these days.
What I'd like to learn more about regards the up-and-comers, the new guys on the scene in the 1970s. Most of the artists I mentioned came of age before 1970; who were the musicians in their late teens/twenties who were causing a stir twixt '70 and '80?