There’s no denying the greatness of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. But there’s also no denying that his later work, when his playing often went free-form and his band followed suit, is not for everyone.
Which is what you’ll find on the newly released live album Offering: Live At Temple University, an oft-bootlegged live recording that UME and Resonance Records have released on CD and vinyl.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Afro Blue Impressions by John Coltrane’s classic quartet is one of the best live jazz albums ever made, by him or anyone else, and represents a high water mark in the career of a true artist.
Now this classic collection has remastered and augmented for a new expanded edition (CD, digital, vinyl). And while it does have some issues, it’s still an improved version of an already great album.
In 1971, four years after jazz saxophonist John Coltrane passed away, his wife Alice assembled some songs he’d recorded in 1965 for the posthumous album Sun Ship.
But rather than just released them as they had originally been recorded, Alice Coltrane had a couple of the tracks edited, and even combined two different versions of a song into a single tune.
Now, more than thirty years later, and six years after Alice’s passing, the uncut versions of those original sessions are finally being released as Sun Ship The Complete Session (CD, vinyl), a double disc set that includes every note Coltrane and his band recorded that day.