John Coltrane Classic Quartet: Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings CD

This is a box set containing 8 CDs (66 tracks) of classic recordings and previously unreleased material on Impulse! by the famous John Coltrane Quartet. Includes a comprehensive booklet with liner notes, pictures and discography information.

Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios) .

After the huge stride of GIANT STEPS, John Coltrane began to move even further ahead in a quartet that featured McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. In 66 tracks gathered from 18 Impulse albums, THE CLASSIC QUARTET documents the complete studio recordings of this unparalleled unit, from lush standards like "Greensleeves" and "It's Easy to Remember" to majestic avant-garde compositions such as "Attaining" and "Compassion" (from the "Meditations" suite). Also included in its entirety is the essential transitional album CRESCENT and Coltrane's legendary exultation A LOVE SUPREME.

In these chronologically ordered sessions, the quartet evolves from a group of proficient collaborators into a telepathically emotive ensemble that's fully capable of continuing Coltrane's musical ascension. In addition to the seven discs of completed compositions, a "works in progress" disc of alternate takes and incomplete tracks provides further insight into the quartet's creative process. Aside from an appearance by Art Davis on second bass and Roy Haynes (briefly filling in for Elvin Jones) on drums, this collection focuses entirely on the unique interplay among these four master musicians. Coltrane's brilliant phrasing, Tyner's intricate melodies, Garrison's percussive bass lines, and Jones' imaginative rhythms intertwine to create some of the world's most timeless music.

8 Cds Box Set

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey from 1961 to 1965. Includes a 100-page booklet with liner notes by Bob Blumenthal and an interview with Elvin Jones.

John Coltrane Quartet: John Coltrane (saxophone); McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).

Producer: Bob Thiele, John Coltrane.

Compilation producer: Michael Cuscuna.

THE CLASSIC QUARTET: COMPLETE IMPULSE! STUDIO RECORDINGS won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. THE CLASSIC QUARTET: COMPLETE IMPULSE! STUDIO RECORDINGS was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Boxed Recording Package.

Additional personnel: Art Davis (bass); Roy Haynes (drums).Entertainment Weekly (12/11/98, pp.74-76) - "...So great was the distance this band covered, it's easy to forget it was together less than four years. But that was the tenor of the '60s...when wave on wave of cultural change hit the nation faster than we could absorb. We're still absorbing them, as this magnificent music attests." - Rating: A
The Wire (1/99, pp.49-50) - "...the defining documents in the musical...quest which he undertook during his abbreviated decade....the selling point is the drama underlying the group's evolution from 1962-65..."
CMJ (1/3/99, p.24) - "...the quarted had perfected a restlessly spiritual freeform swing that any jazzbo worth his or her salt has spent countless hours studying and enjoying..."