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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
great music and great packaging
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...
Published on January 9, 2000 by Ravi Desai
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22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
chronological conundrum
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...
Published on March 1, 2007 by Ian K. Hughes
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
great music and great packaging, January 9, 2000
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
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Coltrane's Best - Great Set, October 25, 2000
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.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Every Note He Recorded For Atlantic... Plus!, January 18, 1998
By A Customer
This 7 CD boxed set from Atlantic/Rhino records contains all of Coltrane's issued material from the Atlantic years on 6 CDs (chronologically), plus a 7th CD of never-before released Atlantic material unavailable anywhere else! The liner notes are bound in a CD-sized hardcover book, and are quite extensive. Sound quality is excellent! Granted, this boxed set is a bit pricey, and may put a dent in your economy, but if you're a Coltrane fan, it's a gold mine! As they say in the liner notes: "Whatever we have, you (now) have. That's all there is, and there isn't any more". Another beautiful package from Rhino Records!! END
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Oh Yes, Oh Yes, Oh Yes!, December 14, 2001
This is WONDERFUL. If you're like me and you think John Coltrane was the most perfect realization of God's purpose when God invented music x thousand years ago, you will love this set. (If you don't already have it.) But even if you don't think that, you will probably like it an awful lot. It is simply jazz saxophone at its finest. And the high quality of the recording captures the music perfectly.Even though it is seven discs, I've listened to it probably 40 times. Several entire albums are included here. Yes it's expensive, but if you buy one of the albums separately, you will want another, and another, and then you'll eventually buy this anyway. That's what happened to me. Like liner notes? There is plenty to read in the generous booklet. Curious what songs were originally on what albums in what order? All that information is included here, along with original album artwork, complete session information, musician credits, etc. I am very picky about the way albums sound and the way they are packaged and I found no problems with this set. That is rare for me, people! Usually when a record label says, "The Complete..." I think, "sure..." and then another album comes out with something they just "discovered". But I think they did it right with this one and actually gave us everything! If you are at all into jazz, you will never regret buying this whole set.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Essential for Coltrane listeners - and anyone who loves jazz, December 10, 1998
By A Customer
Forget about the legend, forget about the completeness of this set. Just listen. There is music here which is as good as it can get. I know it's just my response, but a piece like Blues to Elvin is as good as jazz blues can ever get. There is Coltrane developing his ideas here (the material that produced the original Giant Steps album, and My Favorite Things), and Coltrane showing how his work is firmly rooted in the traditions of Black American music. There are the collaborations with Milt Jackson (?the weakest material in the box) and with Don Cherry. And, chronologically the last, the work with Eric Dolphy released as Ole. This collection shows a musician of the highest skill and creativity, not at the height of his powers (did he ever reach this?), but as the master of everything he tried. Sometimes this is so beautiful I want to cry - always it is jazz at its very, very best.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Atlantic Compilation, But Not Best of His Career, March 15, 2006
The conundrum of John Coltrane's career was that he was one of the most focused and dedicated horn players of all time, while continually searching for something that apparently always remained just beyond his grasp. His tenure with Atlantic Records captures the time that Coltrane came into his own, as a bandleader with a vision, and yet it also captures the restlessness of that vision, and its ability to continually transform itself into something outside his grasp. In this way, Coltrane's music is very much like life itself; while moments of self satisfaction and peace of mind are obtainable for a short while, our very nature as human beings makes certain that anything so desirable remains tenuous. Listen to Coltrane as he stretches out and his dedication to the music is beyond reproach and cannot be questioned. He lived his music as a metaphor for life, and that is why his approach to jazz has endured the test of time. His questions are eternal, and the flashes of brilliance that seem to provide answers, however fleeting, make the quest almost heroic in nature.
The Heavyweight Champion is subtitled `The Complete Atlantic Recordings' for good reason. The seven disks included herein compile every known recording that exists in Atlantic's catalog. While such exhaustively inclusive box sets usually indicate that there will be endless repetition, false starts and abandoned ideas, that is not the case here. With the exception of disk seven, which is deliberately segregated from the rest of the box because it documents (quite fascinatingly, actually) a recording session with all of its stops, starts and musical revisions, this box set contains no more than two takes of any given title. The reason for this is that the warehouse where Atlantic's tapes of all unreleased sessions (again, with the exception of disk seven) were stored was destroyed by fire. However unfortunate the historic consequences of this disaster might have been, the result is a well-focused collection of music that portrays John Coltrane as one the most restless and insightful musicians of his (or any) age.
All in all, Coltrane recorded thirteen sessions for Atlantic, dating from January 1959 through May 1961. Considering, then, how this collection represents only two and change years of Coltrane's legacy, it is remarkable to hear how much growth and change had taken place in so short a time, especially since it all sounds as if it evolved naturally, rather than from commercial or business influences. Coltrane followed his own muse - often into a corner - but it was his willingness to risk himself that draws any attentive listener inside his vision, trying to see just what he was reaching for. Like Coltrane himself, this box set doesn't provide any unequivocal answers, but it does provide all of the recorded evidence that exists, which means that all the questions are right here to behold. And, as anybody familiar with such things already knows, the way to discovery is in asking the right questions.
A- Tom Ryan
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22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
chronological conundrum, March 1, 2007
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The total package..., January 11, 2007
This is a truly great box set.
First, the music. While I think the peaks of Coltrane's Impulse! years exceed the peaks of his Atlantic years, these Atlantic recordings are astonishingly and consistently strong from start to finish, and document one of the most interesting (and rapid) progressions in Jazz history.
Second, these are nicely mastered - great sound!
Third, the liner notes are actually well-written and interesting, with a nice mix of personal and musical history from different writers and musicians.
The 7th disc is arguably only for the hardcore music-geek fan, but it's worth at least a listen or two to just about anyone.
A box set of great music packaged just right. Love it!
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
A Glimpse into the Mind of a Musical Genius, June 18, 1998
By A Customer
2 years ago I was a Product Manager at Rhino Records and had the privilege to work on this box set. I had been a fan of John Coltrane for many years. Being a musician myself, I appreciated him not only for his musical talent, but for the tremendous spirituality, dicipline and courage it was born from. After going through the production of this box set -- hearing the music, and outtakes contained in it, talking to Coltrane contemporaries, critics and fans in putting together the packaging, I was even more in awe of this incredible man. There were others among his contemporaries who transcended boundaries and opened new approaches to the art of jazz, but Coltrane moved beyond that. In many ways he freed the jazz musician, by showing the way to go beyond the expression of more placid emotion to shrill passion, abandon, rage and rapture. He moved the fences and then moved them again. So radically different was Coltrane's style and artistry that it evoked high emotions and controversy. But, as any true visionary would, Coltrane remained outside the controversy, oblivious to those who are compelled to categorize art. He remained true to the spiritual soul and artistic vision which moved through and guided his genius. His death in 1967 brought an end to a career spent in pursuit of expressing the true emotion of his music. This box set forever captures a glimpse of his genius at work. No other Coltrane recording will take you inside his creative process. You will actually hear the birth of Giant Steps as he is creating it! For anyone who loves John Coltrane, you'll love and appreciate him even more when you hear this set.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
the title is what it is, July 4, 2002
This is a great period of Coltrane, where he was still using forms fairly close to song forms, as opposed to a few years later where he used more extended modal forms. Even when the tunes are modal, they still are with song forms. Giant Steps, of course, is a jazz classic, and probably represents the endgame of this approach. These are the so-called Trane Changes. What is cool is when his arrangement to Body and Soul sneaks them in on the bridge. But yet, it is sort of a modal tune, alternating the minor chord with the augmented. A very interesting loosening up of this approach.
My Favorite Things was a tune that he performed much in the later period I mention. Here it is presented pure and simple: it is at the beginning. You will follow Trane and hear him do wonderful versions later at Newport and at the Village Vanguard again. I like how they put all of the extra takes on a separate disk, not like those annoying Verve boxes with Charlie Parker. It is great to hear some of the things they tried in making some of the arrangements to these tunes. Many people say Trane was self-indulgent. But consider that Trane was by nature a searcher, he had to go the extra mile to get "to the crux" as he put it. If this is hard to understand, Gary Giddins had excellent commentary about this in Ken Burns JAZZ series, which otherwise was a fiasco. This is music that will stick to you for your entire life.
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