Not that people *need* to like free-jazz of course, it's not different than any other type of music; sometimes I feel people (myself included) try too hard to make others dig this and it's sort of like NOTHING anyone said could make me dig Coldplay, U2 or Bob Dylan so why should I try to convince people about free-jazz-all music isn't for everyone; shit, Celine Dion, I don't get her *at all* and don't feel bad about it either...

However, for someone who is a bit interested but hasn't really managed to get into the genre, I do feel that this blue Note post-bop is a perfect gateway. Even some of Herbie's and Wayne Shorter's stuff from that era works (think "the Egg" on "Empyrean Isles" or much of "the Prisoner" for Herbie and Wayne's "the all-seeing eye")...

But yeah, Jackie McLean, Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Grachan Moncur etc.-perfect introduction to many of the concepts while still being recognizable as perfectly "normal" jazz. Not so sure about Don Cherry's or-ESPECIALLY-Cecil's two albums on the label though, dope as they are...