John Coltrane: Chasin' the Trane

Any self-respecting jazz fan ought to own this four-disc set, and ought to play it at least once a year. It hints at where Coltrane would head in the years to come, and it is a transcendental experience in its own right. Chasin the Trane pianist McCoy Tyner drops out for this tune finds Coltrane and Eric Dolphy squawking at each other while drummer Elvin Jones furiously propels them along and Reggie Workman keeps them tethered with a walking bass. Tyners absence is actually a plus here, taking away the middle register and the chords to allow the listener to focus exclusively on the mentally exhausting interchange between the horns. How Coltrane and Dolphy manage never to repeat a phrase through all of this is almost beyond comprehension.