[atari 2600]

Well, that's pretty crazy, matt g.

This is, I think, my third attempt over the years at a Coltrane list, and I had my reservations with going with anything for #1 besides Giant Steps and A Love Supreme.
"Naima," from Giant Steps, an ode to John's first wife, is perhaps my all-time favorite original composition of his. Of course, the tune is now a jazz standard. And the whole of A Love Supreme is a landmark, to be sure.

My Favorite Things is the first album Coltrane made for his time at Atlantic Records and is the first he album recorded with later "classic line-up" members McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums. "My Favorite Things" captivates the listener on an otherwordly reworking of Hammerstein. His soprano (at a time when no one else was using the instrument anymore) playing on Cole Porter's "Everytime We Say Goodbye" is breathtaking and it's probably Coltrane's most sublime ballad. The take on George Gershwin's "Summertime" is perfect and showcases much of Coltrane's ear-bending, mind-blowing range. "But Not For Me" impressively begins the harmonic explorations continued on Giant Steps recorded directly afterwards.