Is this really it? I feel like I’m experiencing John Coltrane déjà vu. Every few years a “new” and “complete” reissue of John Coltrane’s seminal A Love Supreme gets out in the streets. There’s always an excuse, ranging from the 50 year anniversary , to Coltrane’s birthday to the harmonic convergence.
You get either a 2 cd or a 3 cd set. Both have the original 4 song masterpiece, and both have a ton of out-takes and alternate versions, almost all of which were available in the 2 cd set a few years back, as well as the “live” presentation from the 1965 Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes being on the 3 cd set. There are some previously unreleased “reference” versions of two tracks and 7 other unreleased performances from the recording sessions as well as the “famous” extra sextet takes of “Acknowledgement” in stereo.
What does it all mean? If you’re a Coltrane completist, they’ve got you by the throat, and so you have to get it. If you’re a fan but not a fanatic, the “Complete” set from a few years ago will get you by. If you know nothing about Coltrane, this is not the place to start.
A Love Supreme is an absolute seminal recording, but it is not one of the “go to” Coltrane albums I listen to when I want to hear him. That is reserved for Blue Train, Giant Steps, Ballads, Africa Brass and Johnny Hartman. There you go!
Impulse! Records