Favorite Coltrane Box?

[Eric]

OK, this is one that I constantly debate with myself. Have to say that I don't own the Prestige or Miles boxes, but have most of the individual CDs.

I really love all of Coltrane's stuff, including the very final recordings. To me, nobody else embodies the passion of jazz like Trane.

Perhaps I am biased because I have this set on vacation with me, but I am voting for the Village Vanguard set. Tough call between it and the Atlantic/Impulse studio sets. I love both of those, but something about live Trane turns it up a notch for me. I remember hearing Chasin' the Trane for the first time about 15 years ago and thinking "so what?" Now I can sit there transfixed for the entire (15?) minutes. The VV stuff has a very wide variety of emotion, albeit most of it on the more serious side. But I do hear great fun in Chasin' and Impressions too. Not a lot of variety tune-wise, but the mix of instrumentation more than makes up for it.

So vote on, fellow O-ers and tell me what you think!

Eric

[DrJ]

I agree with you - Vanguard box is my favorite, for many of the same reasons that I voted for the Plugged Nickel box as my favorite Miles Columbia box in a recent poll. The sound of a group evolving and discovering, growing from track to track.

[JSngry]

Tough call, but I'm of the school that believes that live is usually more revealing and "true" than studio, so...

If anybody ever comes out w/an "official" live set of '65 stuff, that'll get my vote. That was THE year for Trane in so many ways. '63 was the "apex" of the "Classic Quartet" live (at least that's conventional wisdom amongst the hardest of the hardcore Trane geeks), but '65 was when the shit just broke loose in all kinds of thrilling and unpredictable ways, ways that can UPSET 'cha!

Audio-Fidelity DID put out a multi-LP box set of Trane @ the Half-Note in '65 back in the 70s, and it's since made its way through the Net on CDR. Not to be obscure or anything, but THAT is my favorite Trane "box".

Edited August 8, 2003 by JSngry

[brownie]

Voted for the Village Vanguard box. That box is a real gem. Each new hearing is a

renewed exploration in what a musician can produce at his creative best. And the magic is

that the musicians around him stimulate that creative process.

I'll second Jim on the AudioFidelity Half Note vinyl box. This is another great live that should

be reissued with more material. By the way, I think a very few of the sides were recorded

at the Half Note. Most of the music was recorded at Birdland.

[mikeweil]

Hard poll choices are getting something of a tradition on this board

I chose the Atlantic because it has the "old" and "new" Coltrane and because Equinox was the track where I first conscoiusly listened to Coltrane.

To my disgust, they edited off the first chord of that track in this box!!!

Edited August 8, 2003 by mikeweil

[Gary]

Audio-Fidelity DID put out a multi-LP box set of Trane @ the Half-Note in '65 back in the 70s, and it's since made its way through the Net on CDR.

Does any one know where i can buy / hear this set - it sounds fantastic.

If any one does please feel free to PM me ! (hey its worth a try )

It was a choice between Impulse / Heavyweight/MIles & VV.

I voted for the Impulse set , but it was soooo difficult i love all of them (I'm only just making my way through the Live in Europe set , it's a lot better than i was expecting).

Edited August 8, 2003 by Gary

[Z-Man]

Voted for the Vanguard. It was a tough choice - each of those boxes is great for different reasons, but Eric Dolphy swung my vote to the VV. Though technically not a "box", the 4-CD "Live In Japan" (1966 w/Alice & Pharaoh) is one of my favorites, though it's not for everyone.

[John L]

I also voted for the Village Vanguard Box. That is some of my favorite music.

I love the Impulse studio recordings but would never vote for that box. My problem with that box is not the incompleteness, but the programming, which just ruins the enjoyment of the music for me. For example, I don't want half of Crescent on the same disk as half of Ballads. Those correspond to two completely different moods.

After buying the Impulse box and selling the individual disks, I found myself listening to the music less and less, until one day I just threw up my hands and burned myself copies of the original LPs.

[WD45]

VV box for me.

I wrote a paper in college in my Jazz History and Styles course about the Indian music influences on Coltrane as recorded at the VV. I got a B+.

[Jazzmoose]

Another Village Vanguard vote; it's the set that takes you across the line from jazz dabbler to jazz fan!

[sal]

I voted for the Impulse! Studio Recordings, simply because I really believe that's the greatest music Coltrane ever did with the greatest band he ever had.

In response to John L's comment about the programing, I can understand why that becomes bothersome, especially if you have already become used to the moods and emotions embodied in the albums. However, the growth of the group is astonishing to behold, and presenting them in the order they were recorded really allows you to hear this group evolve right before your ears....more comprehensively than listening to the albums in their order of release IMHO.

[Guest GregM]

I'm glad to see VV winning. Not a big fan of boxes, but this transcends the box and is simply a very well produced compendium of the performances, each disc representing a complete evening (as opposed to most boxes that chop up albums across different discs). The quartet was in arguably Coltrane's peak stage of development. The guest musicians who augment the 4tet add a lot of interesting flavor and texture. One can never exhaust what there is to hear of Elvin and Trane on those dates. There's always something new to be found no matter how many times I listen.

[John L]

Actually, for me, the Prestige box runs a close second to the VV box. I listen to that one all the time and, interestingly enough, much more than the Atlantic recordings. The historic importance of the Atlantic recordings is beyond dispute. For some reason, however, I am more often in the mood for relaxed blues a la vintage Trane with the cream of hard bop/soul jazz musicians than the more ground breaking Atlantic stuff.

On the other hand, ask me next year and...

[marcoliv]

VV Box!

[JohnS]

Tricky, I voted for the Prestige box but then I wouldn't want to be with out the Village Vanguard and Heavyweight Champion sets.

[7/4]

Though technically not a "box", the 4-CD "Live In Japan" (1966 w/Alice & Pharaoh) is one of my favorites, though it's not for everyone.

A statement I would agree with.

B)

[7/4]

I voted for Impulse Studio Recordings. This doesn't really exist does it? There's just the offical releases, right?

Edited August 11, 2003 by 7/4