Totally unmissable just for the opener, a killer, 15-minute version of Arlen’s show-tune Out Of This World — drums and bass locking it down, Trane taking flight. From 1962, between Ole and Impressions.

Hard-blowing bop classic from 1958, when Trane was with Monk. A crack sextet rounded out by the richly soulful trombone of youngster Curtis Fuller. Next stop, Giant Steps.

His last Atlantic is a masterpiece; modal heaven. Ole is thunderous, with two bass players; Aisha is a gorgeous ballad. ‘George Lane’ is Eric Dolphy; Freddie Hubbard’s here, too.
Superior, ‘crystal clear’, 140g pressing from Rhino.

Trane’s majestic debut for Atlantic, ushering in the 1960s. Refreshingly the CD-only alternates are intriguing (from several dates in 1959 with various pianists and drummers).

With the classic, studio version of the title track. The drummer John Stevens used to rave about Steve Davis, seldom recorded but here on bass.

Commissioned in 1964 for a film soundtrack — though only half the music was used — this is the classic quartet in gorgeous, relaxed, contemplative, from-the-heart re-visitings of Naima, Village Blues, Like Sonny and Traneing In; plus a new composition, Blue World. Nothing eye-opening, but so what. Warmly recommended.

Transformatively remastered, first performances of Coltrane’s classic quartet, including the sensational debut of Chasin’ The Trane.
The two Impulse LPs Live at the Village Vanguard and Impressions, plus a second performance of Spiritual retrieved from a box-set.
‘The big deal is that the label’s Revisited series employs a combination of state-of-the-art mastering technology and outstanding engineers to deliver substantially improved audio. If you are using an even halfway decent hi-fi set up, you will notice the difference in clarity and presence, with Coltrane’s saxophone and Elvin Jones’ drums particular benificiaries. This makes Chasin’ The Trane Revisited practically a down by law must-have for Coltrane aficionados’ (Chris May).

Two dates from an extended stay at the Half Note club, March 26 — May 7, 1965; originally captured for radio broadcast, but issued by Impulse! in 2005 as One Down, One Up: Live At The Half Note.
Here it is again, with vastly improved sound, re-sequenced to culminate in the stunning saxophone-drums duet One Down, One Up.

Writing in All About Jazz, Chris May quotes Alice Coltrane, reminiscing about this period: ‘Someone in the audience would stand up, their arms upreaching, and they would be like that for an hour or more. Their clothing would be soaked with perspiration, and when they finally sat down, they practically fell down. The music just took people out of the whole material world; it lifted them up.’ And Archie Shepp, specifically about these Half Note gigs: ‘It was like being in a church. I mean, Coltrane brought something which raised this music from secular music to a religious world music.’