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Toby Keith
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John Coltrane
The conundrum of John Coltrane’s career was that he was one of the most focused and dedicated horn players of all time, while continually searching for something that apparently always remained just beyond his grasp. His tenure with Atlantic Records captures the time that Coltrane came into his own, as a bandleader with a vision, and yet it also captures the restlessness of that vision, and its ability to continually transform itself into something outside his grasp.
In this way, Coltrane’s music is very much like life itself; while moments of self satisfaction and peace of mind are obtainable for a short while, our very nature as human beings makes certain that anything so desirable remains tenuous. Listen to Coltrane as he stretches out and his dedication to the music is beyond reproach and cannot be questioned. He lived his music as a metaphor for life, and that is why his approach to jazz has endured the test of time. His questions are eternal, and the flashes of brilliance that seem to provide answers, however fleeting, make the quest almost heroic in nature.
The Heavyweight Champion is subtitled ‘The Complete Atlantic Recordings’ for good reason. The seven disks included herein compile every known recording that exists in Atlantic’s catalog. While such exhaustively inclusive box sets usually indicate that there will be endless repetition, false starts and abandoned ideas, that is not the case here. With the exception of disk seven, which is deliberately segregated from the rest of the box because it documents (quite fascinatingly, actually) a recording session with all of its stops, starts and musical revisions, this box set contains no more than two takes of any given title. The reason for this is that the warehouse where Atlantic’s tapes of all unreleased sessions (again, with the exception of disk seven) were stored was destroyed by fire. However unfortunate the historic consequences of this disaster might have been, the result is a well-focused collection of music that portrays John Coltrane as one the most restless and insightful musicians of his (or any) age.
All in all, Coltrane recorded thirteen sessions for Atlantic, dating from January 1959 through May 1961. Considering, then, how this collection represents only two and change years of Coltrane’s legacy, it is remarkable to hear how much growth and change had taken place in so short a time, especially since it all sounds as if it evolved naturally, rather than from commercial or business influences. Coltrane followed his own muse – often into a corner – but it was his willingness to risk himself that draws any attentive listener inside his vision, trying to see just what he was reaching for. Like Coltrane himself, this box set doesn’t provide any unequivocal answers, but it does provide all of the recorded evidence that exists, which means that all the questions are right here to behold. And, as anybody familiar with such things already knows, the way to discovery is in asking the right questions.
Grade: 
 
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