CD-Charts Position 1
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A Love Supreme

by: John Coltrane

Release Date August 19, 2003
I have a small but highly acclaimed jazz collection. This is the jewel, my favorite, only tied by kind of blue in quality. An essential, not for jazz lovers, but rather music lovers.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Blue Train

by: John Coltrane

Release Date April 01, 1997
John Coltrane-Blue Train *****

When I first heard the album Blue Train I played the title cut eight times before I played the rest of the album; Then I proceeded to play the album over and over and over again. The title piece from this land mark album is like nothing I had ever heard before and nothing I have heard since. While not half as adventurous as he would soon become and not as technically efficient as some of Coltrane's other work, 'Blue Train' is a piece unto itself. Maybe because it is none of those things is why it is so stunning to me. The piece rolls along like a train as the title suggest. The blues number is among Coltrane's most inspired pieces in my book.

'Moments Notice' 'Locomotion' and the restrained ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall

by: Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane

Release Date September 27, 2005
Recorded on 11/29/57, featuring Thelonious Monk - piano and compositions, John Coltrane - tenor, Ahmed Abdul-Malik - bass, and Shadow Wilson - trap drums.

The hype surrounding the release of this music had some people seemingly calling it the greatest thing ever even before it had been released. It is great, I don't take anything away from it, but I don't consider it to be so much higher than Monk's Music or Complete Prestige Recordings that it knocks all that stuff down a few notches or makes them nearly irrelevant in comparison, like some people might have you believe.

Shortly after it was released I saw a contestant on Jeopardy say this was his favorite music of all time. That's taking it a bit far, I do believe. I think ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman

by: John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman

Release Date June 27, 1995
Recognized for years as a Jazz Classic, an Essential Recording . . . there is very little regarding this special recording that can be added that has not already been written. The qualities of these two great artists came together on this very special recording. It is simply that good. The technology through the years has improved and fortunately the remastering of this classic has been done well enough to give much deserved honor to the original vinyl rendering.

Hartman voice sounds as if he were in your room, while John Coltrane simplifies his music to support the "other instrument", the vocal (his only recording to do so). It takes genius and great self esteem to keep it within the boundaries of the entire ensemble; Coltrane did just this ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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The Very Best of John Coltrane

by: John Coltrane

Release Date February 15, 2000
I have this CD in a Rhino release: same music, same cover photo, same "very best of" tagline, just not the "Greatest Hits" design. I think of John's time on Atlantic Records as his most interesting, and all the performances here are from 1959 and 1960. In the '50's, Coltrane was a more traditional sax improviser, mainly on the Prestige label, and he produced some lovely things. After 1960, he moved more and more into "avant-garde" or "free-form" jazz and lost me as a fan. On Atlantic, you get the best...he is harmonic and inventive, melodic and yet stretching a few solos into unexpected territory. For those not familiar with Coltrane, but not all that adventurous in their jazz tastes, this is a superb introduction, better than the Ken Burns compliation which ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Giant Steps

by: John Coltrane

Release Date October 25, 1990
...from a purely musical standpoint, as in being actual compositions, it's not that great of a listen. Giant Steps, for the most part, is an album for people who understand music, those who know about music theory and understand what new breakthroughs this guy made with this album, and how he uses the numerous things. And for those people, they would probably know if Coltrane's Giant Steps is worth listening to for the musical technique and the like involved

But for me, Giant Steps shows some hints of brilliance, and John Coltrane still can play the heck out of his saxophone, he's brilliant obviously, on the whole. But the problem is that for all of the brilliant hints (the melodies he usually plays at the beginning and end of the songs are worth hearing), ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Best of Miles Davis & John Coltrane

by: Miles Davis & John Coltrane

Release Date April 17, 2001
Miles Davis and John Coltrane, musically, were made for each other. One already a legend, the other soon-to-be, this is a heckuva pair. Add Cannonball Aderly, Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland and Paul Chambers and you have the best ensemble jazz ever saw. Plus we get half 'Round About Midnight and Milestones, as well as works of jazz expertise So What, Blue in Green, and Someday My Prince Will Come. Let's also not forget Straight, No Chaser, Milestones, 'Round Midnight and Bye Bye Blackbird. Buy it today.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

My Favorite Things

by: John Coltrane

Release Date October 25, 1990
Virtuosity that tilts toward easy listening

John's Coltrane's genius and inventiveness are on display on this album of public favorites, though little of his edginess. The format is easy-listening four-piece jazz -- sax, drums, keyboard and bass -- and is unlikely to offend or challenge even those unfamiliar with the genre. At least as amazing as Coltrane's wild improvisational flights are pianist McCoy Tyner's rapid fire runs up and down the keys.

Not groundbreaking, but there's ear-catching virtuosity here if you're really listeing. Aand not a bad choice for background music at the office or a party.

CD-Charts Position 9
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Blue Train

by: John Coltrane

Release Date June 10, 2003
If there were a list of the ten jazz albums that non-jazz listeners own, "Blue Train" would be number three behind Kind of Blue and Time Out. And there's a reason for that - catchy title tune, no if's or but's about it. The opening melody is memorable, singable, and is the kind of song that never leaves your mind since you heard it at age four. After the melody statement and Coltrane's torrid flights to the seventh circle of the universe, the rest, to non-jazz listeners, is the same, but to jazz aficionados, it leads us into the land of Gods.

"Blue Train" is an album of four songs that become instant jazz standards along with a shockingly caressing treatment of a standard into a ballad, filled with great musical statements; it is such a pity that Alfred Lion and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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John Coltrane: Crescent

by: John Coltrane Quartet

Release Date September 24, 1996
In the vast, almost surreally expansive litany of John Coltrane music, this CD stands out for a number of reasons. For one, it provides a glimpse of the man sort of at a cross roads, where he was still whipping out the licks he has since become famous for, but where he also delves into an improvisational method that borders on the avant-garde, and indeed - many would argue - heralds that era. Especially in the opening title track, one really has to be listening close to tell that he hasn't strayed completely away from the original melody and chords, and for me, it causes a strain that is almost tangibly tiring. But the rest of the tracks settle down into what I would call "traditional" Coltrane, where, yeah, he goes off on his own, but just when you start to get worried about him, ... Read More: