John Coltrane • A Love Supreme
Analogue Productions/Impulse! A-77
Two 45-RPM 180 g LPs
Many people more familiar with jazz than I have suggested that A Love Supreme is to John Coltrane as Kind of Blue is to Miles Davis, an assertion I don’t take issue with. Originally issued in 1965 (only two years before Coltrane’s untimely death) and consisting of only three tracks (the last of which is split into two parts), A Love Supreme was Coltrane’s tenth album for Impulse!.
The sound quality on this record is wonderful! Deep, tuneful bass coupled with sweet treble. Just listen to Elvin Jones’ cymbal swishes on the first track, Acknowledgement, for an idea on how cymbals are supposed to sound. A refreshing change for the bright splashy mess that cymbals sound like in most contemporary records, unfortunately.
The dynamics and overall “you are there”-ness is no doubt aided by Kevin Gray’s wonderful remastering and Analogue Productions’ great pressing, which is how all reissues should be IMHO: flat as a pancake with silent surfaces.
The heavy duty, gatefold sleeve of the packaging only adds to the value proposition of this record, so it comes warmly recommended, despite being somewhat pricey.