"...it is more honest and fair to the artist in question, and productive for the growth of our own musical awareness, to keep the door just slightly open to the possibility that it is we who don't understand the message; not that the message is no good."
@frogman - I am in absolute agreement with this. Well said.
I'm also very willing to consider your premise that JC's development led him to a place of expressing pure emotion. I would counter, however, with a couple of questions as in...
Or did it lead him to develop a new language for expressing emotion.
Or did lead to expressing a new "kind" of emotion; almost like a painter "inventing" a new color (and sub-question: Is it then a "human emotion"?).
We can get all kinds of philosophical on these points but they certainly touch on what is the meaning and purpose of art. Is it primarily a form of self-expression, a means of (emotional) communication, a mix of both? what % of each?? Believe me when i say, I'm suspicious of how superficial my questions are...but they're the best I got at the moment.
OR (another 'or') is it just about the entertainment value and answering the age old question, "Can you dance to it?". If there's a burden of communicative responsibility on the artist, is the artist then to be limited by the "language skills" of his audience? I certainly don't think so. Art history says, "NO!" [BTW - one can make a case here for the good that critics can do acting as "translators" and "guides" for those of us willing to "keep that door open".]
I realize I muddled things up in my earlier post by talking objective with a capital O and then reusing 'objective' in reference to Orpheus (and me) not liking some of Coltrane's later stuff. Instead of "objective reason for parting company" I should have written, "valid reason for parting company" since I think it is absolutely okay to make a negative subjective assessment based on answering "Does it communicate anything worthwhile to me?" [Worthwhile?! - what the heck is THAT!)
As you urge, however, I do recognize this judgement might only be temporary pending further "growth of our own musical awareness".
Thanks for your comments and ideas. I enjoy this discussion very much.