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Originally Posted by SuperCreep
Start off with these:
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (duh)
Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures
Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra
John Coltrane - Ascension
Pharoah Sanders - Karma
Peter Brötzmann Octet - Machine Gun
Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda
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That's definitely a list I would get behind. He nailed all of the artists I would want to include with a great sampling of essential albums.
As Sun Ra goes, Heliocentric is definitely one of the "Free"-er sounding records, though the Arkestra never quite fit the Free model all of the way since Ra would grill his band with 12 hour rehearsals and surprisingly specific compositional structure (not that there wasn't improvisation, just far less than most people think). If I was going to suggest a record for somebody trying to get into Ra I'd go with Space is the Place first (either the "album" or the "movie soundtrack" which is actually more like an alternate album).
I'd also add Miles Davis at Filmore West to the list, though it is also not considered canon among many Free Jazz purists. It's just a phenomenal set though of a musician at his peak taking on the best of the genres of the day and throwing any precepts about how it was supposed to be done out the window. With remarkably beautiful playing to pull it all together.