I can't describe in words how amazing A Love Supreme is, both in terms of it's feel and the technical proficiency in playing the horn like that. It tales me somewhere else, every single time. Those long legato runs are out of this world.
What I really like about him is when he just screams like a total madman through the saxophone. That's why one of my favorite albums from him is the last live The Olatunji Concert with Pharoah Sanders, where the sick man just roars like a lion. Horrible sound quality but I'd say his strongest band and absolutely brilliant music.
Afro Blue... Actually more for the McCoy Tyner piano work but the whole ensemble is wonderful.
A Love Supreme more invigorating than laid-back classics like Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, and the harmonies of the first two cuts are grounded enough that nothing is lost from not knowing the original standards. (A lot of jazz is hard to approach today because the context is lost -- nobody knows the tunes or can follow the chord changes, so you can't feel the tension and everything sounds like undirected noodling. The experience is analogous to listening to a remix without knowing the original).
A Love Supreme is literally the first jazz album I recommend to people.
And from there it's nice to jump to the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.
https://pitchfork.com/features/pitchfork-essentials/9724-ast...