John Coltrane • Birdland 1962

Limited edition 5-CD box set containing five classic, influential John Coltrane albums from his Impulse discography.
Each album newly remastered from the original master tapes.

NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman has always declared that if he had to name one primary influence and inspiration, it would be John Coltrane. The first time he saw Coltrane at Birdland in February 1962, he was 15 years old. As he recounts in his autobiography, What It Is (as told to yours truly), that was the night he saw the light, though he didn’t realize it for years. “Once you see the light,” he explains, “you can never turn away from it, though you may try. I went to see Coltrane from then on, anytime I could.”

John Coltrane - The Classic Quartet: Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings (1998) {8CD Set GRP IMPD8-280}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.38 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.20 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 513 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1998 GRP Records / Impulse! | IMPD8-280
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modal Music / Free Jazz / Saxophone

Here it is: eight CDs worth of John Coltrane's classic quartet, comprised of bassist Jimmy Garrison, pianist McCoy Tyner, and drummer Elvin Jones, recorded between December of 1961 and September of 1965 when the artist followed his restless vision and expanded the band before assembling an entirely new one before his death. What transpired over the course of the eight albums and supplementary material used elsewhere is nothing short of a complete transfiguration of one band into another one, from a band that followed the leader into places unknown to one that inspired him and pushed him further. All of this transpired in the span of only three years.

A towering musical figure of the 20th century, saxophonist John Coltrane reset the parameters of jazz during his decade as a leader.

Arguably never quite in the top league alongside the likes of Charlie Parker (his great influence), Lester Young, Benny Carter, Ben Webster and John Coltrane, nevertheless the great alto saxophonist Sonny Stitt is a welcome addition to our “classic album” series. Across four wonderfully diverse albums we find Sonny amongst four jazz quartets all discovering something new about each other along their musical journey. “Saxophone Supremacy” finds Sonny alongside Lou Levy on piano, Leroy Vinegar on bass and Mel Lewis on drums. For “Personal Appearance” he is joined by Bobby Timmins on piano, Edgar Willis on bass and Kenny Dennis on drums. “The Battle Of Birdland” recorded one Sunday night at New York’s famed Birdland club, Sonny teams up with fellow sax titan Eddie Davis for a supercharged blowing session alongside Doc Bagby and Charlie Rice…