John Coltrane nearly poisoned me on jazz. Friends in high school in 1972 recommended his album Kulu Sé Mama, but I couldn’t make much sense of the music. I said to myself, “Gosh, if this is jazz, I’m out.” Then I decided I was going to listen to it over and over until I understood it. That took about a dozen listens, none of them particularly enjoyable. [Photo above of John Coltrane by Esmond Edwards for the cover of Coltrane]