Chi Coltrane Essential (2009)

Now regarded as one of the most iconic figures in jazz history, back in the late 1950s John Coltrane was a regular ""gun for hire"" participating in many sessions by studio-assembled bands led by a wide array of leaders. None were more unusual than the two albums he recorded with Ray Draper, a truly unique exponent of modern jazz tuba. Although still in his teens, the prodigal brassman was already a member of drummer Max Roach's group and had begun to emerge as an equally promising composer, highlighted by the number of themes from his pen featured on these two sets. Recorded during Coltrane's celebrated ""sheets of sound"" period, Draper's brace of albums are noteworthy for their inclusion of three compositions written by the other twin-peak of modern jazz saxophone, Sonny Rollins, two of which Coltrane did not record elsewhere.

This release is very interesting set of nostalgic sides from sessions in Art Blakey's name, with a big band he formed independently of the Jazz Messengers. Featuring Trane in an ensemble setting with Al Cohn (writer of most of the charts, according to Charles Waring's liner notes) Donald Byrd, Sahib Shihab and Bill Graham, the record has a slick but not superficial, swinging sound, bright and cheering. This package also features a second disk of alternate takes and one bonus track ("Oasis") making the set a nice catch.

This release is very interesting set of nostalgic sides from sessions in Art Blakey's name, with a big band he formed independently of the Jazz Messengers. Featuring Trane in an ensemble setting with Al Cohn (writer of most of the charts, according to Charles Waring's liner notes) Donald Byrd, Sahib Shihab and Bill Graham, the record has a slick but not superficial, swinging sound, bright and cheering. This package also features a second disk of alternate takes and one bonus track ("Oasis") making the set a nice catch.

These two sessions were produced by Lee Kraft in 1957 featuring the inimitable tenor saxophonist John Coltrane in two different formats; a quintet with Donald Byrd, Walter Bishop, Jr., Wendell Marshall and Art Blakey, and a 15-piece big band organized by Blakey. Coltrane was featured prominently in both settings and played exceptionally throughout. While the other soloists were all top-notch musicians, Coltranes compositions and performance clearly stole the show. His solos were powerful and confident, ripping out sequences of 16th note lines that soared over the full range of the horn with complete command.

Packaged together in this five-disc box set from Verve/Hip-O-Select, these titles represent the albums Impulse issued following John Coltrane's death in 1967, and remain some of the most controversial in his catalog (numerous critics thought – and many still do – that dubious choices were made in assembling them).

The fifth and final volume in Universal's massive John Coltrane: The Impulse! Albums in the Originals series, contains five recordings, all issued posthumously between 1970 and 1973. Two of these, Transition and Sun Ship, feature Coltrane's classic quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. Of the remaining albums, two are live recordings – Live in Seattle and Concert in Japan – the remaining one being the infamous Infinity.