John Coltrane Four Tenors (2002)

AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Albums series with a finely re-mastered 2CD release from John Coltrane with The Red Garland Trio & Quintet.

Basically this is music from a pair of John Coltrane live dates, one from Graz, Austria in 1962 and another near the end of the original quartet's tenure. The collection contains two discs. The first features a burning rendition of "A Love Supreme" (all four parts) and the second includes tunes from the Graz concert: "Mr. PC," "Autumn Leaves" "Bye Bye Blackbird," and "I Want to Talk About You." The modal jazz framework was still in place at this time, but it wouldn't be long before Coltrane abandoned it altogether for a freer approach. The sound quality here isn't great but it's far from unacceptable, making it a worthwhile purchase for fans of the era.

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.