John Coltrane My Favorite Things
[purchase]
John Coltrane's music runs the spectrum from relatively straight-up jazz to the wildest free-jazz that you're likely to ever hear. The wilder stuff came toward the end of his career (and life) and it has been both praised and vilified. His earlier, more traditional, recordings are universally praised. My Favorite Things falls somewhere in the middle, probably leaning toward the more traditional side. Not being an expert on Jazz, I find this whole record to be eminently listen-to-able, musical, and lyrical. It's a beautiful piece of work.
He has forty or fifty records that are attributed to him, and many many more on which he plays an important role (including classics like Miles Davis's A Kind Of Blue).
PS: On a side note, I bought this album after Chris Stevens, the DJ on the television show Northern Exposure, referred to it as one of his favorites. I took that as a recommendation, even if the person doing the recommending was fictional, and picked it up soon afterward. Glad I did.