Cannot think of a many more deserving albums to go platinum than the John Coltrane A Love Supreme jazz release. It is one of Coltrane’s best selling works and widely considered by critics as a masterpiece. Originally released in January of 1965 on Impulse Records with various remasters and reissues during the following years. Recently a newly found recording of A Love Supreme was discovered and released from a 1965 recorded performance from Seattle.
Brief Background on John Coltrane A Love Supreme Album
If you are not familiar with A Love Supreme, it is a remarkable album and performance. The original recording was done at the Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey. The recording featured the quartet of Coltrane on sax with McCoy Tyner on piano, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones. It is believed the album is a spiritual work and one that pursues a deeper meaning. Coltrane admitted that he didn’t own his talent but was channeling a higher power. He believed he provided the discipline and tools, but the actual music seemed to happen by itself. What makes “A Love Supreme” so good is that it has an emotional quality and the music has ecstatic swells followed by dramatic hushes. The music has a conversational cadences similar to that of a prayer. The final movement on the original release, “Psalm,” is a musical recitation of a devotional poem included in the liner notes of the album.
John Coltrane A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
The latest release of the John Coltrane A Love Supreme album was released in 2021 from a newly discovered recording captured in a small Seattle Club. The newly released album is fantastic and if you are a fan of Coltrane or want to hear Coltrane at his best I suggest you add both the original and new release to your collection.
The new release differs from the original recording by adding 3 additional musicians to the original quartet (Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax), Donald Garrett (second bass), and Carlos Ward (alto sax). Compared to the original recording, the Seattle performance is more lively and has a lot more intensity. In addition, the performance time is a lot longer, lasting over 75 minutes which is twice the length of the original. Both the original and new John Coltrane A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle are available to purchase on Amazon or your favorite record store.
A Love Supreme: The Platinum Collection
To celebrate the milestone for this legendary album, Impulse has added a digital release named John Coltrane A Love Supreme: The Platinum Collection which includes all three versions (original album, alive recording from Antibes, France from 1965 and the newly released Live in Seattle). The digital editions can be found here.
