The Music Plays On — John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

There are albums in every genre that help define that genre and set a watermark by which all other artists aspire. I say aspire rather than “are judged” because art isn’t a competition, particularly when it comes to the mercurial sand mandala that is jazz. If musicians were to step on stage or into the recording with the intention of being better than someone else, rather than being the absolute…