John Coltrane Sun Ship (1965)

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

John Coltrane - Transition (1965)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 354 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 116 Mb
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© 1993 MCA / GRP / Impulse! | GRD-124
Jazz / Avant-Garde / Post Bop

This posthumous release, recorded in June of 1965, is a perfect point upon which to delineate the TRANSITION between Coltrane quartet's golden age, and the book of revelations that followed. TRANSITION finds them on the stylistic fault line between the spiritual outreach of A LOVE SUPREME and the turbulent explorations of SUN SHIP. These performances are plenty intense, yet traditional matters of tune, tempo, tonality and time are still apparent, whereas two months later (SUN SHIP) the band was immersed in the spirit of exploration.

Trane's chanting theme to the title tune echoes elements of A LOVE SUPREME, while his development of this and other motifs foreshadows the deep contrasts between upper and lower registers he'd exploit so convincingly on MEDITATIONS. As always, Tyner holds the rumbling edifice together with dense block chords that reflect Trane's stunning flights, while his two-handed accents imply all manner of polyrhythmic revelations to Garrison and Jones. On the angelic miniature that follows ("Welcome"), Tyner resembles a chorale of church pianists, weaving harp-like clouds around Trane's lyric lightning.

John Coltrane - Selflessness featuring My Favorite Things (1965) {Impulse!-Verve Originals B0015830-2 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 287 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 234 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 1965, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / UMG | Verve Originals Series | B0015830-2 | LP AS-9161
Jazz / Free Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Saxophone

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.

John Coltrane - Selflessness featuring My Favorite Things (1969) {Impulse! Japan, 32XD-585, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 271 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 145 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 1965, 1987 Impulse! / MCA Records / Warner-Pioneer Japan | 32XD-585
Jazz / Free Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Saxophone

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.

Recorded in June of 1965 and released posthumously in 1970, Transition acts as a neat perforation mark between Coltrane's classic quartet and the cosmic explorations that would follow until Trane's passing in 1967. Recorded seven months after the standard-setting A Love Supreme, Transition's first half bears much in common with that groundbreaking set. Spiritually reaching and burningly intense, the quartet is playing at full steam, but still shy of the total free exploration that would follow mere months later on records like Sun Ship and the mystical atonal darkness that came in the fall of that same year with Om. McCoy Tyner's gloriously roaming piano chord clusters add depth and counterpoint to Coltrane's ferocious lyrical runs on the five-part suite that makes up the album's second half…