Kicking off 2020 in style with a true classic. It’s extremely difficult to find a 1st pressing of this with the non-suffix catalogue number on the labels. Let alone a white label promo copy. So I’m over the moon to have secured one. John Coltrane have become a massive figure for me the last couple of years. He has always been a favorite but now that I’ve dug deeper into his later catalogue he’s become even more important to me. I love his later work on the Impulse! label. I’ve also started to explore his Atlantic catalogue more in depth. I have “Giant Steps“ since way back in the collection and I’ve listened to “My Favorite Things” but there’s more to enjoy. Just bought another LP of his on Atlantic. It’s due in Stockholm on Monday. Looking forward to receiving that one and hopefully it will make the grade upon listening to the condition of it, so I can post it here on the site later.
This album is of paramount importance to most jazz fans and I couldn’t agree more. It’s his masterpiece. It’s so searching and spiritual in nature. Beautiful music that really stands out from the crowd. It makes you happy to listen to and for me, it makes me stronger tackling everyday life when I hear it. I just wish I had been able to see this classic quartet live back in the day. That sure would have been a spiritual awakening I could imagine.
I can’t pick a favorite tune on this album because I consider it as one piece. One statement, one expression of how wonderful jazz is. I would think that my readers have a long history together with this album, and I would very much like to hear what this album means to you?
I’ve been focusing on getting more albums that I love into the collection from the Impulse! and Atlantic labels for example. There are plenty of really great albums on those labels that are much cheaper than buying 1st pressing Blue Notes, Prestige, Riverside etc. I’d like to build up a larger collection faster so there’s more to choose from. Cause buying 4-5 extremely expensive albums a year is not going to do the trick. It’s rewarding as hell to be able to secure that stuff but I’ve been doing it that way for a long time and I have a lot of top collectibles, but just for a while I’d like to buy more albums during a year. 1st pressings only in great condition of course. But it’s hard not to be tempted and buy a beautiful Blue Note for example. Maybe I could mix it up a bit and try and get my hands on a couple of more expensive albums and spend the rest on the cheaper titles. Also, this has come naturally for me, focusing on these Impulse! and Atlantic albums, because they feature artists that I’ve been interested in exploring and hearing more from, like Coltrane and his sidemen, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus.
I hope 2020 will bring a lot of nice albums onto my shelves that I can enjoy and share with you guys. I’d like to thank everyone who is commenting and visiting the site and I hope we will continue to have some great exchanges here during this year and beyond. A belated happy new year to everyone. Stay tuned… cheers!