One of the most intimidating parts of being a new jazz fan is the perennial questions “where do I begin.” In answer to that question, and in celebration of John Coltrane’s 90th birthday, Acrobat Records has put out a 4 disc set of Coltrane’s material from various eras of his cut-short career. This is an excellent place to begin figuring out which direction you may want to take with the legendary tenor/soprano saxist.
The four discs are divided into categories: 1) The Sideman 2) The Leader 3) Collaborations and 4) Broadcasts and private tapes. The sideman tracts have him in good company with Miles Davis, developing his sound on “ Stablemates” and “On Green Dolphin Street” while palpably growing with Thelonious Monk on “Trinkle Tinkle.” As a leader, it’s hard to beat “Moment’s Notice” as a hard bopper, while “Naima” is a classic ballad, “Giant Steps” takes bop as far as it can go, and “Africa” is a wondrous experiment.
The collaboration disc has him in the summit meeting with Sonny Rollins on “Tenor M adness,” and in a great wrestling match with Al Cohn, Hank Mobley and Zoot Sims on “Bob’s Boys.” On the Broadcasts, he sears through “By Bye Blackbird” with Miles Davis. His “classic” quartet does an unforgettable “Body and Soul” and with Eric Dolphy joining in perform mind stretching reads of My Favorite Things” and “Impressions.” There’s going to be something for every taste on this Whitman’s Sampler of modern jazz by one of the greats.