John Coltrane "Live" At The Village Vanguard (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series) 180g LP

TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal

Michael Fremer Rated 11/11 Music, 9/11 Sonics!

"Live" At The Village Vanguard was released in February 1962 on Impulse Records, the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, and the first Coltrane live album to be issued. Recorded live over four nights in November 1961, the album contains Reggie Workman's final recordings with the group on Side One, with Garrison taking over bass duties on Side Two. Eric Dolphy plays bass clarinet on the track "Spiritual".

Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. in high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets.

This new Verve/Acoustic Sounds reissue is one of those 'this sounds fantastic until you hear an original pressing', which means it really sounds great... The original is 'you are there' great, in part thanks to RVG's dozen microphone mixing, but you know what? If you never get to hear the original this reissue is 'you are there' great too. I feel so lucky and privileged to be able to just reach back and pick an original from the shelf to compare for you but if you buy this reissue, which you really should, you'll have a great sounding version for not stupid money and the privilege will be all yours too.

The reissues of two classic John Coltrane albums released this month in new, sparkling vinyl editions by Acoustic Sounds are the blueprints for what would become the next major phases in the saxophonist's evolution. On the horizon following this early '60s period were the spiritual jazz of A Love Supreme and the explosive free jazz of Ascension. Elements of those progressions flow through these albums like a small stream that heralded a mighty river. The live album, released in 1962, was a particularly bold step forward for Coltrane. For his run of dates at the Village Vanguard, he brought in bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy, who, on the expansive 'Spiritual,' added a splash of astringency to match the acid of Trane's soprano sax within the song's fuming broth.