John Coltrane
My Favorite Things
1960, Atlantic Records
Answer: Reason you love jazz. Question: What is this record?
This might be the only NR Essential that is so heavily influenced by a single track. Though of course the entire record (which is only 4 tracks) is incredible, the truth is that in my opinion the opening/title track is one of the finest examples of everything perfect about music. Coltrane took a jolly melody from (shudder) The Sound of (f'ing) Music and then managed to do EVERYTHING he could think of to it. For fourteen glorious minutes he (and his band) unselfishly, wisely, beautifully explore every tangenial variation on the theme until it is all but used up and then... on to the next standard.
And that's what's amazing about the record. These are four standards. It seems almost nuts that songs we already know being performed by instruments we already know should open any new doors. But it's this sort of exploration beyond the limits that our ears had THOUGHT existed that makes Coltrane the wise teacher that he was.
This is a record I have (and do) listen to a lot. A lot! It's a record that grows more beautiful with each listen, and maybe more importantly: it seems to teach me - or make me realize - something new about music (or even sound and how it effects us) each time I listen to it. For this is NOT background/cocktail/dinner jazz. This is pure enlightenment, and you need to pay close attention to it. NOW.
EDIT: If anyone plans on picking this up, beware of the Live album that bares the same title on its sleeve. The live disc I mention collections 6 tracks, and though it may be good, it's not the record I'm praising here.