Records: John Coltrane's Vintage & Vanguard Box Set

By Jason Heller

It is extremely difficult to write about John Coltrane, one of the most respected and influential jazz musicians of all time. What can be said about a man who stands so far above his sax peers, especially when those peers are giants like Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, and Charlie Parker? In addition to the countless biographies and endless criticism written about him, there are scores of musicians who have made entire careers exploring just one of 'Trane's musical periods.

That said, this compilation of his legendary four-night stand at the storied Village Vanguard is nothing short of astonishing. Although 19 of these 22 recordings have been released before, they have never been compiled together, in their original sequence, until this four-CD set.

By this point in his career, Coltrane had moved beyond his "sheets of sound" approach, in which he would connect chords together in extremely rapid succession. Instead, the 1961 Village Vanguard sets found him soloing over two- or three-chord vamps. Coltrane originals like "Impressions" show the effectiveness of this approach. 'Trane reworks that track three different ways in this set, each one showcasing a different aspect of his ensemble and his own soloing--always passionate, adventurous, and precisely executed.

Despite the criticism from purists at the time that these performances were anti-jazz, listening to these recordings in their original sequence proves otherwise. The emotional directness and stretching of tonality rings entirely true, and adds some technically dazzling moves to the jazz pantheon. "India," which appears in four different versions in each of the four sets, shows 'Trane's Eastern spiritual side and reveals a more focused and terse sax, a clear precursor to his masterpiece, A Love Supreme.

Always the consummate artist, Coltrane sought to burst all boundaries in the musical explorations of this set. Known to practice 12 hours a day, he unleashes not only some of the most influential jazz of the last 50 years, but his own supreme love for the music. (Impulse!)

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