I'd read an article about jazz songs played by artists such as Miles
Davis, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington. The songs were all subtly
risque in nature- I do recall the author stating that they said much
by saying very little, as it were- and for the most part recorded
before music became "very much about advertising sex", for lack of a
better term. I'm looking
for any material about these recordings, including their titles.

There were several jazz artists whose work was known for sexual
innuendo. Butterbeans & Suzie, Jelly Roll Morton, and Fats Waller
spring to mind.

And my, oh, my, those blues songs! Some of the lyrics sound mighty
raunchy even by today's standards. Here's an interesting collection of
"dirty blues":

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004WFCY/qid=1050279999/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/103-2081345-7033445?v=glance&s=music

I hope another Researcher can find your article. I do know that Jazz
Times magazine had a special issue recently called "Sex and Jazz."
That might be a good place to start.

Long before the advent of overt sexuality to sell music to the young
(Elvis circa 1955, or the Beatles circa 1962, Britney Spears circa
yesterday, for example), jazz and popular musicians widely practiced
the art of the "sexual innuendo lyric" to attract the disposable
income of listeners wishing to alienate their parents! Even Fats
Waller's most famous composition "Honeysuckle Rose" (which can be
heard at: http://fcrosby.com/freeman/piano/honeys.html ) features a
lyric that is widely known to insinuate the singer's fondness of oral
sex with his sweetheart!
When speaking of the music of Miles Davis or John Coltrane (especially
Coltrane's early work in the mid to late 1950's, his later work taking
on more of a spiritual nature) the sexuality of the music is a result
of the style of swing rhythm being performed at that time, which had
evolved a smoothness and a subtlety in the 50's "hard bop" and "cool"
styles that was a far cry from the big band and even the 1940's style
bebop swing sound that had preceeded it. Miles Davis (a person who
spent his life redefining the sound of jazz throughout the decades in
a constant pursuit of the fresh, young audience of each generation)
once said that when there were no women in his audience, he knew it
was time for the music to evolve!
An alumnus of the Wynton Marsalis Band once told me after a jam
session that "this music [jazz] is hump music!". Another, a veteran of
the great Bill Evans trio who had also worked with Coltrane told me on
numerous occasions that "this music is about sex!" When played with
the proper feel and subtlety, the "Straight Ahead" swing rhythm as
evolved from the late 50's early 60's template evokes a visceral
sexuality. Great example recordings might be:
- Any Miles Davis Quintet recording on the "prestige" label
- "Saxophone Colossus" by Sonny Rollins (Also on prestige)
- "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" by Oliver Nelson on the Impulse
Label

These are just off the top of my head, the examples are really too
numerous to mention. hope this helps....