Sun John Coltrane

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.

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).

Issued in 1968, more than a year after John Coltrane's death, Cosmic Music is co-credited to John and Alice Coltrane. Trane appears on only two of the four tracks here (they are also the longest): "Manifestation" and "Dr. King." They were both cut in February of 1966 at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, with the great saxophonist fronting his final quintet with Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Ray Appleton adding percussion. "Manifestation" is also the first recorded instance of Sanders playing the piccolo in addition to his tenor saxophone; he takes an extended solo on the instrument. "Dr. King" was written to honor the civil rights leader during his lifetime. King's assassination occurred less than a year after the saxophonist's death…

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…

While there have been several John Coltrane Atlantic years compilations, the 2017 single-disc anthology Trane: The Atlantic Collection is one of the most concise and useful introductions to the legendary saxophonist. Focusing on the years 1959 to 1961, Trane: The Atlantic Collection offers up a thumbnail sketch of Coltrane just as he entered the first truly individualistic stage of his career. Previously, he had primarily made his mark as a sideman with trumpeter Miles Davis, with whom he had just recorded the landmark Kind of Blue, when he signed with Atlantic. Backed by a formidable cadre of musicians, at times including pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones, Coltrane embarked on a creatively fruitful period in which he recorded some of his most influential original pieces…

John Coltrane - Sun Ship: The Complete Session (1965) {2CD Set Impulse! B0018075-02 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 695 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 257 Mb
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© 1965, 2013 Impulse! / Verve / UMG | B0018075-02
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

Recorded on August 26, 1965 (and not released until after his death), Sun Ship was the final recording by John Coltrane's quartet with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Jimmy Garrison. Pharoah Sanders would join the group the following month, and Tyner and Jones would depart in January of 1966 to be replaced by Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali. It is also one of the saxophonist's most intense taped performances. After nearly four years together, this band had achieved a vital collective identity. When Coltrane moved toward metrically free styles of rhythm and melody (with tunes often based on one chord or a short series of notes as themes), the quartet's rhythmic pulse and collective interplay evolved accordingly.

John Coltrane - Sun Ship (1965) {Impulse!-Verve Originals B0015952-02 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 299 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 247 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / UMG | Verve Originals Series | B0015952-02 | LP AS-9211
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Free Jazz / Saxophone

Recorded on August 26, 1965 (and not released until after his death in heavily edited form), Sun Ship was the final recording by John Coltrane's quartet with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Jimmy Garrison. After nearly four years together, this band had achieved a vital collective identity. When Coltrane moved toward metrically free styles of rhythm and melody (with tunes often based on one chord or a short series of notes as themes), the quartet's rhythmic pulse and collective interplay evolved accordingly. The title track opens with a splintered theme. Garrison and Jones group dramatically around the leader's call, then rhythmically abstract the pulse; they imply a central rhythm more than state one.

John Coltrane - Sun Ship (1965) {Impulse!, 32XD-586, Japan Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 240 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb
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© 1965, 1987 Impulse! / MCA / Warner-Pioneer Japan | 32XD-586
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Tenor Saxophone

Soaring work from the legendary John Coltrane Quartet – a session that was incredibly far-reaching for the time, and which originally was unissued until after the time of Coltrane's death! The record's got the group really pushing forward strongly – hitting a Love Supreme mode, but also showing even some of the sharper edges that John would explore with the group after this one – a beautiful swan song to the lineup of McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Things soar with a hell of a lot of spirituality, yet never get too overindulgent to lose their groove.

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
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© 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.