aren't the coltrane fans being a little rigid in their thinking? is historical perspective out the window in jazz? i imagine if a time machine swapped him and coleman hawkins, you'd be going on about a different guy. the equivalent in classical would be to say that once you;ve heard beethoven, you might as well forget about mozart and haydn and bach and monteverdi...
anyhow, i voted for trumpet, even though it became less fashionable once the noodlers firmly took over jazz. armstrong, davis and even gillespie (for the noodle eaters).
vuk.