Reviews

Our brave new digital world has laid waste to the market for physical music media, but a few niche categories are still viable. One is historical jazz packages. Consider, for example, four albums of previously unreleased John Coltrane material. Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (Blue Note, 2005), One Down, One Up (Impulse!, … Read More

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John Coltrane: Blue World (Impulse!)

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Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 (Columbia/Legacy)

Jazz is a music of ensembles working toward a shared common goal through improvisatory avenues, but it is most special when focused on partnerships. Bird and Diz. Lady Day and Prez. Dolphy and Little. Ella and Satch. Near the top of any such pyramid belongs Miles Davis and John Coltrane, with this four-disc set bearing … Read More

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John Coltrane: Love & Heart & Spirit

Early in the new documentary Chasing Trane, Benny Golson recalls his friendship with John Coltrane, complaining that the iconic saxophonist made him do all the talking. “He was quiet,” Golson says. “He never talked—until he put that saxophone in his mouth.” Director John Scheinfeld, never a diehard jazz fan before making Chasing Trane, discovered Coltrane’s … Read More

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John Coltrane: The Atlantic Years—In Mono

Let’s assume there’s zero chance you’re considering the purchase of a set like this one-six monaural Coltrane albums, sans extras-unless you already own the records in another form. Which is to say, stereo form. Forking over the cash then becomes a matter of hearing something new in music you’ve likely heard a lot of, gaining … Read More

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John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters

Veteran jazz fans probably do not often listen to A Love Supreme, saxophonist John Coltrane’s unfathomably important 1965 album of passionate, spiritual jazz. They internalized the LP, performed by Trane’s “Classic Quartet”-pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones and the leader on tenor-long ago. But now there’s a reason to revisit. In honor … Read More

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The Miles Davis Quintet featuring John Coltrane: All Of You: The Last Tour 1960

John Coltrane had been an on-and-off member of Miles Davis’ First Great Quintet for five years when the group-filled out at this juncture by pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb-embarked on a European tour in early spring of 1960. Listening to these four CDs, captured during that trek, it’s often difficult … Read More

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John Coltrane: Offering; Live at Temple University

John Coltrane’s Nov. 11, 1966, concert at Temple University is the stuff of legend, and not all of it good: The event was sparsely attended; the student group that organized it lost money; people walked out; the music was grating, atonal and irritating; Coltrane didn’t bring his A game. Recordings of the show have circulated … Read More

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John Coltrane: The Complete Sun Ship Session

It stands to reason that almost any box set of an album’s “complete sessions” is primarily for completists. That’s doubly true for one that (a) contains no unreleased tunes, and (b) is vinyl only. The Complete Sun Ship Session, a three-LP collection of every take from the 1965 date (posthumously released in 1971) for John … Read More

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Live Review: Michael Brecker and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band

If anyone had doubts about Michael Brecker, backed by the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, pulling off a successful tribute to John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” suite, they were dissolved about two minutes into the performance. Brecker began with the suite’s “Acknowledgement” sounding like Coltrane – in moves, sound and embellishments – but he soon made … Read More

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