Consumer Guide Album

John Coltrane: The Best of John Coltrane [Prestige, 2004]
Designate a misnomer so as not to to say lie the title of what now seems to be a rare item, which is not, unfortunately, The Very Best of John Coltrane, though it does seem to be the first disc of Prestige Profiles: John Coltrane. Coltrane worked with both Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk before forming his classic quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, both of whom tower over such sidemen as leader-pianists Red Garland and Mal Waldron on the dolled-up blowing sessions cherry-picked here. These 1957 and 1958 recordings are money dates, the material mostly standards although one called "Slowtrane" closes the collection out. But that turns out to be the charm. This period was just when a detoxed 'Trane was mastering the sheets-of-sound sound that would revolutionize jazz, and while he's willing to fit in, his solos just naturally immolate the stalwart thoughts of such hornmen as Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams, and the excellent Idrees Sulieman. It's relaxed, expert, even engaging postbop jazz blown away by the winds of change for a thrilling minute on every track. It's a giant striding among mortal men. It's stimulating background music forced to admit that there's more to entertainment than this. A-