Okay, I've got a few free jazz CDs (Ornette Coleman At the Golden Circle, Song X, a couple of live Coltrane sets), but I'm still unclear as to what exactly I'm supposed to get out of it. Like, what distinguishes good honk 'n squeak from your run-of-the-mill honk 'n squeak?

What I find most rewarding out of free jazz is listening closely for the relationships that develop between musicians. If you listen carefully enough, you'll start to discern whom is playing off of whom, and from there you'll start making all the many little connections between all of the musicians involved. When I first got into jazz, I used to think that free jazz was just disorganized noise. Now I usually can't help but instantly listen for the wisps of common thought passing through a truly good band. Ornette's a great place to start, but I'd highly recommend going back to the start with the album that really started it all - Free Jazz. As "out" as it may have sounded at the time (and to new listeners even today) it's really got quite a strong melodic element and a sensible progression from motif to motif. It's good, good stuff, and if you like it I HIGHLY suggest picking up Ornette's boxset of that period's material, Beauty Is A Rare Thing. This was one of my first jazz boxsets years ago and it has continued to be one of my dearest possessions. Truly amazing music.

By the way, Mark, your post reminded me how much I've been wanting to get Oh Mercy, so I went out and bought it yesterday. Beautiful stuff - as you say, the pairing of Lanois and Dylan on this album is amazing. "Most of the Time" is a song I rarely have out of my head since I heard it on the High Fidelity soundtrack . . . glad I finally own the real album surrounding it.