John Coltrane

John Coltrane – Stellar Regions (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 45:16 minutes | 1,91 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve

This set is drawn from a February 15, 1967, recording session one of John Coltrane’s last days in the studio. The tapes had been in Alice Coltrane’s care since the recording, and she gave titles to the pieces, overseeing their release on CD in 1995. All are previously unreleased with the exception of “Offering” which appeared on Expression. As on that release, there’s evidence here that Coltrane’s relentless musical search was drawing him ever further out. The performances are shorter, focused, with a magisterial lyricism seamlessly integrated with exclamatory shrieks and cries. There is an aching, though rough-hewn, beauty to Coltrane’s playing on these tracks. With the exception of “Tranesonic” where he is on alto, he plays tenor sax throughout. His command of the instrument from the very bottom of the low register to the stratospheric heights of the altissimo is staggering note in particular his “duet” with himself on “Sun Star” where he questions and answers with himself on the extreme ranges of the horn. There’s a depth and wisdom to these recordings that only further extends the Coltrane legacy.
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John Coltrane – Stardust (1963/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:21 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Prestige

John Coltrane’s ballad mastery was the last of his skills to receive wide appreciation. The notion that Coltrane the balladeer could be as commanding as Coltrane the uptempo wizard or Coltrane the blues player finally gained acceptance in 1963, when this album appeared and quickly became an important exhibit in the reconsideration. Stardust consists of recordings made in 1958, showcasing Coltrane’s impressive bandmates: Wilbur Harden and a very young Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and drummers Jimmy Cobb and Art Taylor.
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John Coltrane – Standard Coltrane (1962/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:41 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Prestige

“Standard Coltrane” consists of tracks recorded in 1958 but only released in 1962 to capitalize on Coltrane’s growing popularity throughout the 60s. The material on the album consists of well known music from Broadway or films, mostly ballads, recorded with the bulk of the Miles Davis band of the day: Wilbur Harden on trumpet and flugelhorn, Red Garland on piano, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. This is a prime example of Coltrane in the middle of his signature “sheets of sound” period.
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John Coltrane – Soultrane (1658/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:02 minutes | 904 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Prestige

The liner notes for the essential 1958 album Soultrane contained the first-ever use of the now famous phrase “sheets of sound” to describe John Coltrane’s style and sound, in full evidence on these songs. Among the many highlights is an extended version of Billy Eckstine’s I Want To Talk About You, which would become a staple of Coltrane’s live shows. For this session, Coltrane recruited bandmates from Miles Davis’s Quintet: pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor, otherwise known as the Red Garland Trio.
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John Coltrane – Simply … Coltrane! (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 03:29:35 minutes | 1,83 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Jube Legends

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John Coltrane – Settin’ The Pace (1961/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 52:41 minutes | 2,39 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Prestige

Coltrane does not do the old Dexter Gordon/Leo Parker duet number, “Settin’ the Pace,” in this set. The overall title merely refers to his preeminence in the jazz world at the time the recording was released in the early Sixties. Recorded in 1958, this session comes from a time when Trane had already played in the Miles Davis quintet and the Thelonious Monk quartet, and was frequenting Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio in recording situations backed by the Red Garland trio. This threesome–Garland, Paul Chambers, and Arthur Taylor–was a Prestige entity on its own, but had already released such albums with Coltrane as Traneing In and Soultrane. Settin’ the Pace, with its heady combination of seldom-done pop material and Jackie McLean’s intriguing “Little Melonae,” continued the excellent quartet series at a time when Trane was making jazz history at the head of yet another powerful foursome. with Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Arthur Taylor
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John Coltrane – Selflessness Featuring My Favorite Things (1969/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:41 minutes | 942 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!

In the context of the decades since his passing and the legacy that’s continued to grow, John Coltrane’s Selflessness album bears an odd similarity to Bob Dylan’s autobiographical book Chronicles. In Chronicles, Dylan tells the tale of his beginnings, jumping abruptly and confoundingly from his early years to life and work after his 1966 motorcycle accident, omitting any mention of his most popular and curious electric era. The contrast between these two eras becomes more vivid with the deletion of the years and events that bridged them. Released in 1965, Selflessness presents long-form pieces, likewise from two very distinct and separate eras of Coltrane’s development. The album’s first two-thirds was recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival and consists of an amazingly deft rendition of Coltrane’s take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic “My Favorite Things” as well as the glowingly affectionate “I Want to Talk About You.” Coltrane is backed on these numbers by the classic lineup of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Roy Haynes, and the quartet absolutely crackles with the flowing joy that characterized its sound. Tyner especially sparkles in his extended spotlight moments on “My Favorite Things,” arguably the best version Coltrane put to tape of this favorite. Fast forwarding two years to 1965, the 14-plus-minute extended atmospherics of “Selflessness” find Coltrane ramping up to the free-form spiritual style that he would work in for the short remainder of his life. The large ensemble on this date included Pharoah Sanders’ blistering tenor and Elvin Jones’ sputtering drums working alongside second drummer Frank Butler as well as the reverb-doused percussion sounds of Juno Lewis. The sprawling and sometimes aimless meditation comes off a little dippy as a result of the production and low-key playing, but it hints at a direction that would be fully articulated later on records like Sun Ship and the gorgeous Concert in Japan. Though the rapid changes in Coltrane’s playing between 1963 and 1965 are thoroughly documented on other albums, taken as a whole, the contrast on Selflessness is striking. ~ Fred Thomas
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John Coltrane – Say When: Complete Recordings (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:58 minutes | 531 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane’s music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension, as exemplified on his most acclaimed albums A Love Supreme (1965) and Ascension (1966). He remains one of the most influential saxophonists in music history. He received numerous posthumous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and was canonized by the African Orthodox Church. His second wife was pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane. The couple had three children: John Jr. (1964-1982), a bassist; Ravi (born 1965), a saxophonist; and Oran (born 1967), also a saxophonist.
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John Coltrane – Om (1967/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 28:49 minutes | 1,26 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

Condemned by many critics as John Coltrane’s worst album, Om suffers only in comparison to the great works that preceded it. Also issued in 1965, Ascension had stunned the jazz world with the blunt force of its innovation – a swirling maelstrom of noise, it was an answer to the challenge that had been posed by Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz several years earlier. For all the sonic assault that Pharoah Sanders and Coltrane mustered up on Ascension, however, it contained some surprisingly clear solos and had the feel of a well-thought-out interplay between all of the musicians on the date, including classic quartet members Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, and McCoy Tyner. Om, in contrast, seems more like a pure release of energy. Expressions of sanity and organization by the rhythm section seem detached from the wall of sound that Sanders and Coltrane have erected. The best moments come when Coltrane breaks away from Sanders for solos – echoes of Love Supreme can be heard in the repetitive, circular themes. Regardless of its seeming chaos, this is a deeply spiritual work, and can be seen as a darker, more unhinged version of the invocations heard on that album. Indeed, Om resonates with passion and yearning, but has a frantic edge that suggests that opening up to all of that powerful spiritual energy might have been a frightening experience. The music isn’t perfect, as the thematic flow sometimes seems a bit segmented, and talented members of the band are relegated a little too far to the background (like McCoy Tyner, who nevertheless has a beautiful short solo around 13:30). Regardless, Om doesn’t deserve the dismissal it has been given by critics. It is an important work in the history of free jazz that opens up considerably by the end of its 29 minutes, revealing the expansive contents of a jazz master’s mind. AllMusic Review by Stacia Proefrock
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John Coltrane – Olé Coltrane (1961/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:49 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino Atlantic

Olé Coltrane is the ninth album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1961 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1373. The album was recorded at A&R Studios in New York, and was the last of Coltrane’s Atlantic albums to be made under his own supervision.
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John Coltrane – Offering: Live At Temple University (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:32:02 minutes | 1015 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!

Offering: Live at Temple University is a 2014 live album released posthumously by John Coltrane on Resonance Records. The album was recorded from original master reels stored by WRTI-FM. Proceeds from the album benefit the John Coltrane Home.
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John Coltrane – Offering: Live At Temple University (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:32:02 minutes | 1015 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!

Offering: Live at Temple University is a 2014 live album released posthumously by John Coltrane on Resonance Records. The album was recorded from original master reels stored by WRTI-FM. Proceeds from the album benefit the John Coltrane Home.
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John Coltrane – Lush Life (1961/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:55 minutes | 850 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Prestige

Lush Life is an album credited to jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1961 on Prestige Records, catalogue 7188. It is assembled from unissued results of three separate recording sessions at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1957 and 1958. As Coltrane’s fame grew during the 1960s long after he had stopped recording for the label, Prestige used unissued recordings to create new marketable albums without Coltrane’s input or approval.
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John Coltrane – Live In Seattle (1965/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:33 minutes | 1,73 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!

Live in Seattle features John Coltrane at a concert in September, 1965 with his expanded sextet (which included pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders on tenor, and Donald Garrett doubling on bass clarinet and bass). Coltrane experts know that 1965 was the year that his music became quite atonal and, with the addition of Sanders, often very violent. This music, therefore, is not for fans of Coltrane’s earlier “sheets of sound” period or for those who prefer jazz as melodic background music. The program comprises the nearly free “Cosmos,” an intense workout on “Out of This World,” a bass feature, and the truly wild “Evolution.” Throughout much of this set Coltrane plays some miraculous solos, Sanders consistently turns on the heat, Garrett makes the passionate ensembles a bit overcrowded, Tyner is barely audible, Garrison drones in the background, and Jones struggles to make sense of it all. This is innovative and difficult music.
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John Coltrane – Live At The Village Vanguard Again! (1966/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:40 minutes | 1,58 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!

John Coltrane recorded his performance at the Village Vanguard in May 1966, however only the three tracks on this album survived. Coltrane himself plays saxes, clarinet and flute, joined on the front line by Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, accompanied by Alice Coltrane’s wife Alice on piano, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Rashied Ali and percussionist Emanuel Rahim.
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