Thanks frog for the fast and detailed response. Listened to a lot of Trane yesterday and I have a few observations I would like to share.
Blue Train, Coltrane's first album as a leader during his last decade on earth 100% addiction free, is basically "straight ahead hard bop" and very accessible to all.
Giant Steps is when I needed repeated listening's to "get it".
A Love Supreme took more listens to "get it" then Giant Steps.
I have listened to Ascension dozens of times and I still don't "get it".
Frogman I apologize for bothering you a second time in 24 hours but was wondering is there a "certain way" with different expectations of listening to Ascension to get the most out of it. Lord knows I have tried.
Dave Liebman, another artist I listen to that often ventures across the border into "free jazz", says of Ascension:
the album "blew everybody out of the water" and was "the torch that lit the free-jazz thing. I mean, it really begins with Cecil [Taylor] and Ornette [Coleman] in '59, but Ascension was like the patron saint saying, 'It's OK—this is valid.' I think that even had much more of an effect on everybody than A Love Supreme."
Here is an interesting rendition of My Favorite Things by Leibman's Expansions" band recorded in September, 2021.
https://youtu.be/SxxSKrKRciY?si=CWgLv4sJTpUOntLB