John Coltrane A Love Supreme TEST PRESSING Speakers Corner Cut by Kevin Gray

$

335

Please see all my AUDIOPHILE listings, I combine ship.
Note: This is 1 of 30 Test Pressings of this release so it was never sealed, appears unplayed. 
180 gram vinyl test pressing (pressing plant PALLAS in Germany), white label "only for promotion", comes in generic white sleeve and a printed description (A4) of the record in English and German with a small picture of the cover.

• Matrix / Runout (Side A, etched): AS-77-A KPG@ATM
• Matrix / Runout (Side B, etched): AS-77-B KPG@ATM

John Coltrane's immortal Impulse! records, A Love Supreme (1964) and Ballads (1963) (see my listing for the Ballads Test Pressing also) both have drawn rave reviews since their original release. In fact, jazz critics have lauded A Love Supreme as Coltrane's most important recording. The rave reviews which appeared in the magazines Downbeat, Jazz Hot, Jazz Podium and Swingjournal reflected this: critics all over the world, in America, Europe and Japan recognized that Coltrane's deep religious belief had influenced both his approach to life and his music-making.

A Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio outing that at once compiled all of his innovations from his past, spoke of his current deep spirituality, and also gave a glimpse into the next two and a half years (sadly, those would be his last). Recorded at the end of 1964, Trane's classic quartet of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garrison stepped in and created one of the most thought-provoking albums of their relationship.

The album not only enabled Coltrane to express himself with great intensity but also lent him the necessary inner peace to conceive a work of almost 40 minutes in length and to lead his quartet along the same path as himself.

Impulse AS-77

Format: 1LP 33rpm / gatefold sleeve

Manufacturer: Speakers Corner

Release Date: 2002-02-04

“A Love Supreme” - John Coltrane (ts); McCoy Tyner (p); Jimmy Garrison (b); Elvin Jones (dr)

Right from the very first hearing, absolutely every single jazzcritic shared the same opinion – whether trained musicians or not, true or would-be jazz expert: “A Love Supreme” is John Coltrane’s most important recording. And the rave reviews which appeared in the magazines Downbeat, Jazz Hot, Jazz Podium and Swingjournal reflected this: critics all over the world, in America, Europe and Japan recognized that Coltrane’s deep religious belief had influenced both his approach to life and his music-making. It not only enabled him to express himself with great intensity but also lent him the necessary inner peace to conceive a work of almost 40 minutes in length and to lead his quartet along the same path as himself. 
The first section, entitled “Acknowledgement”, has a forceful bass line which runs throughout the whole work. The powerful sound increases in intensity, whereby the bass motif undergoes constant modulation, with John Coltrane’s meditative singing creating immense tension. 
In “Resolution” Coltrane’s powerful, quasi hymnlike expression comes to the fore, with McCoy Tyner achieving equal intensity in his solo. 
“Pursuance”, with its density, quick-as-lightning runs and block chords, gives us a taste of John Coltrane’s later ‘free’ phase. 
“Psalm” is filled with the famous, almost static melodies rather like a fervent prayer which are so typical for John Coltrane. 
“A Love Supreme” has been a faithful companion and teacher of generations of saxophonists and its message goes way beyond Music and is still valid today, in 2001, the year in which John Coltrane would have celebrated his 75th birthday.

Recording: December 1964 in New York City by Rudy Van Gelder
Production: Bob Thiele