A Love Supreme

My goodness! You can feel this music down to your soul. So relaxing. John Coltrane is a genius. This legendary album should be in the collection of serious jazz enthusiasts everywhere.

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... you'll love it. It's not for me to say you'll care ...."... for Coltrane's playing, that is, or post bebop jazz in general, for that matter. Or for me to say that you'll be comfortable with Coltrane's musical affirmation of his religious "recovery' from drugs and booze. His "love supreme" is not of the flesh in this music; he is seriously seeking transcendence through submission to the Love of God. Whether you'll hear Coltrane's awakened spirituality in the music, or simply some very fine lyrical jazz supported by superb piano-playing from McCoy Tyner, will probably depend on your own sense of transcendence.It's that question of transcendence that interests me. I'm not sure how this will play out in evolutionary terms, but I have to wonder whether the "yearning for transcendence" isn't instinctual in Homo sapiens. Next to Fear and Loathing of Mortality -AKA death - the longing for 'just a little bit' of Transcendence must be the wellspring of all human religious beliefs. That must be why Religion has inspired such a huge amount of the world's great music. Of all the arts - in words, in paint, in stone - music seems to me to have the greatest potential for expressing transcendence of our paltry material existence, possibly because it's the least material in itself. Music exists only immaterially, only in the moment of hearing and in the memory of the hearer. Post-modernist critics now insist that the 'meaning' of a poem or a novel has to be negotiated between the writer and the reader, but the words are solid on the page where they will remain until the paper crumbles. Music is always negotiated between the composer and the "first listener", i.e. the performer. Even jazz improvisation is negotiated by ear; Coltrane's 4-part composition on "A Love Supreme" is after all not finally HIS, but rather a collaboration of four irrevocably individual human beings. At its peak, the negotiation can be ecstatic.So. From Gregorian chant to Bach cantatas to Arvo Pärt or John Coltrane, Religion has always made great Music. Some of that amounts to the merely pragmatic question of patronage; churches have always been splendid performance spaces. I imagine also that the experience of a sense of transcendence through music made fervent believers of many great composers. John Coltrane professed that his religious awakening saved his life from the despair and contempt of his earlier music. The music was the man, whom Lenny Tristano called "all emotion, no feeling." Biographically speaking, Coltrane's "salvation" in life preceded any "salvation" after death that Christians expect. A lot of self-hating drug/booze abusers, many of them musical, have had their lives 'turned around' by "a Love supreme". More power to religion then! In the end, it's not for me to say ....

If you're a big fan of Coltrane and don't have this album, you need to get it. Amazing!

Mr. Coltrane's tenor sax made a real impact on many people over the years. This work is "his gift to God". Of the three parts, Resolution is my favorite. It's a piece that kind of says, "I've done a lot of things, many good, some not. But my resolve is to do more good and to be a better person." To me, this entire work is so good. Thank you, sir.

Sounds to relax by.

On 180g, should no be miss, sounds very good. Loved it

Analog Productions has become a world class operation, not only in owning and operating their own record pressing plant (QRP), but also in mastering music at the highest level possible. This is AAA mastering at its absolute best. I have purchased many of their releases through the years and they have always surpassed my discerning expectations.John Coltrane’s musical legacy deserves to be preserved with the highest quality sound possible. With this newest release we have been given a perfect pressing with exquisite analog mastering. I have owned several different pressings of this exceptional recording through the years and this one is hands down the very best I’ve ever heard.I also purchased AP’s pressing of the Coltrane Quintet Ballads LP, and again the quality of the sound and pressing is consistently mind blowing from beginning to end.If you’re interested in hearing John Coltrane on vinyl and you want to really feel the music, then you need to seek out these new pressings from Analog Productions. The attention to detail is truly remarkable right down to the album jacket, which come in heavy cardboard with glossy cover photo.A Love Supreme is one of the most legendary moments in jazz, and it has never sounded better than it does here. By far, one of the best sounding pressings I own. Highly recommended for any vinyl jazz enthusiast.