The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane (Incl: 7 CD's; 72 Pg. Hd.C. Book) [Box set]

John Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 15, 1995)
• Original Release Date: August 15, 1995
• Number of Discs: 7
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B0000033K2
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,477 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #32 in Music > Jazz > Avant Garde & Free Jazz
  • #62 in Music > Jazz > Bebop > Hard Bop
  • #90 in Music > Jazz > Modern Postbebop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

John Coltrane not only made his reputation once and for all during his brief 1959-61 stay at Atlantic Records; he cut enough material to allow the label to continue releasing "new" albums (the Don Cherry collaboration The Avant-Garde) until a year before his 1967 death. The Heavyweight Champion collects those masters plus revealing alternate takes and false starts in a typical handsome Rhino box that is also packed with informative notes and great Lee Friedlander photos. While the sheer volume of music and emotion Coltrane and cohorts throw at the listener might make purchases of individual discs like My Favorite Things, Giant Steps, and Coltrane's Sound a wise choice, those committed enough to jump right in won't regret adding these seven CDs to their collections. Coltrane had kicked his multilayered sonic and spiritual quest into fifth gear by the time of his Atlantic debut, and to say he scorched plenty of earth while under the care of staff producer Nesuhi Ertegun is only the beginning of an ample description of his achievements at the label. Though he was to go even further at Impulse!, where he ended his career, Champion's tracks rate in the very small beyond-five-stars category. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

JOHN COLTRANE The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1995 US 87-track digitally remastered SEVEN CD set featuring every master Coltrane recorded for Atlantic Records between 1959 and 1961. Six of the discs come in digipak picture sleeves and Disc 7 is housed in a box designed to replicate the original tape reel complete with a 72-page hardback book all housed in a 6" x 5?" x 3?" picture box - still in the original shrink wrap)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great music and great packaging, January 9, 2000

By 

Ravi Desai "Ravi" (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane (Incl: 7 CD's; 72 Pg. Hd.C. Book) (Audio CD)

This is a great box set. 7Cds comprising all of Coltranes work on the Atlantic label. This includes all the material on 10 albums: 1.Giant Steps, 2.Coltrane Jazz, 3.Bags and Trane, 4. My favorite things, 5. ole coltrane, 6. coltrane plays the blues, 7. coltranes sound, 8. the avant garde, 9. the coltrane legacy, 10. coltrane-alternate takes. These albums are all contained on the first 6 discs in the set. the track order has been modified so that tracks are presented in the original chronological order. The seventh disc consists of several alternate takes(which are only available in this box set). This is great material and is should be in every serious jazz collection. it is worth noting that most of this is available as individual discs and many collectors may want to accumulate this one CD at a time. The accompanying book and overall packagingare excellent My only complaint is that this is a very expensive set. there are also a lot of alternate takes (but serious listeners will enjoy these). buyers should note that this is not a complete collection of Coltrane's work. A lot of coltranes best work(Alove supreme)was done on Impulse records and is therefore not in this set. Overall this is a wonderful collection, if it were only more affordable

42 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars chronological conundrum, March 1, 2007

By 

Ian K. Hughes (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane (Incl: 7 CD's; 72 Pg. Hd.C. Book) (Audio CD)

As many jazz fans reading this review already know, there are eight albums John Coltrane recorded for Atlantic, 1959-1961:

BAGS AND TRANE ( w/ Milt Jackson )
GIANT STEPS
COLTRANE JAZZ
THE AVANT-GARDE ( w/ Don Cherry )
MY FAVORITE THINGS
COLTRANE PLAYS THE BLUES
COLTRANE'S SOUND
OLE

Given the sheer excellence of these recordings ( "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things" are landmarks ), this reviewer is more than a little sheepish at having to slap a 3 star rating on the "Heavyweight Champion" box set. Why? Well, it's certainly not due to the music, for I haven't any doubt whatsoever as to either its inherent quality or artistic significance. And obviously, the low rating can't be chalked up to packaging details, which are uniformly tasteful: the hard-cover booklet, more a "mini-book", is exemplary and there is a truly spectacular "extra" ( ingeniously encased in a replica of a reel-to-reel tape box ) in the form of a disc devoted to virtually *all* of the takes ( partial & complete ) of Trane's groundbreaking tune, "Giant Steps".

No, the crux of my complaint resides in what I strongly feel is an aesthetic violation: the fact that this box set, like so many others, arranges all of the music ( including alternate takes ) in strict chronological order. While this approach certainly has merits for extended live recordings or certain unique studio projects ( eg, Art Tatum's mammoth sessions for Norman Granz ), I find it has little *artistic* ( as opposed to musicological ) justification when applied to a body of work that stands so close to perfection through the arrangement its creator fashioned. Undoubtedly, there are those who truly enjoy fastidious methods of tracing artistic development, but I question whether any other than the most rigorous would be worse off just exploring the albums in their original form with alternate takes placed as appendices at the "bottom" of each particular work. And in fact, all of the work contained in this box set *is* currently available in just such a format. I highly recommend the prospective buyer think this over prior to making an investment; for those other than collectors who just *have* to have the set for the complete takes/outakes of "Giant Steps" ( I admit I wouldn't part with it ), the individual album route makes much more sense.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coltrane's Best - Great Set, October 25, 2000

By 

Scott McFarland (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane (Incl: 7 CD's; 72 Pg. Hd.C. Book) (Audio CD)

I have the other 2 box sets of Coltrane's recorded works - the 16-CD Prestige set and the 8-CD Impulse set. This is by far the most impressive, definitive, and even of the sets.

John finds himself on here - he cuts his seminal "Giant Steps" material on Discs 1 and 2, then moves on to form his original quartet (with Elvin, McCoy, and Steve Davis) and cut a wealth of blues-inspired material while the band was fresh. He discovers the soprano sax and plays some startling figures on it (the best-known being "My Favorite Things"). The compositions on here are perfect and the playing pretty great. John never sounded better, and I can't imagine anyone with an interest in jazz not enjoying the heck out of this set.