The late saxophonist John Coltrane remains an immense influence on contemporary music of all kinds, and A Love Supreme was his most celebrated and commercially successful album, reaching jazz fans and rock-devoted 60s hippies alike. But its prayerlike solemnity and raw improvisational power also carried an emotional and musical weight that endures in contemporary tributes; there is even a festival named after it. The album’s 50th anniversary brings its fullest documentation yet, with the original version featured in a choice of 2CD or 3CD sets packed with alternative takes (with Coltrane’s famous quartet augmented by sax contemporary Archie Shepp and a second bassist), and on the 3CD set, the only documented live recording of the entire album, from Antibes in July 1965. Elvin Jones’s rapturous pecussion, Jimmy Garrison’s flamenco-like bass-strumming, McCoy Tyner’s streaming piano lines and driving chordwork, and Coltrane’s fusion of dark brooding and furious ecstasy still sound mesmerisingly fresh, and an essay from Coltrane specialist Ashley Kahn eloquently fills the gaps for newcomers. It’s a great jazz Christmas present.
