A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle is a live album by American saxophonist John Coltrane, released on October 22, 2021, through Impulse! Records.[1] It was recorded on October 2, 1965, at the Seattle jazz club The Penthouse, by saxophonist Joe Brazil. The tapes were found five years after Brazil's death in October 2008 by the saxophonist Steve Griggs. It is one of only two recorded live performances of Coltrane's 1965 album A Love Supreme, the other being a July 1965 recording from the Jazz à Juan jazz festival in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France, which was released in 2002 as part of the deluxe edition of A Love Supreme.[2]

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
Live album by
ReleasedOctober 22, 2021 (2021-10-22)
RecordedOctober 2, 1965
VenueThe Penthouse, Seattle, US
Length75:28
LabelImpulse!
ProducerKen Druker
John Coltrane chronology
Blue World
(2019)
A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
(2021)
Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
(2023)

Background

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During September 14–26, 1965, the John Coltrane Quartet played an engagement at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco.[3] The saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, whose music Coltrane admired, and who had previously recorded with Coltrane on Ascension, went to hear the group and was invited to sit in. According to Sanders, "[H]e told me then that he was thinking of changing the group and changing the music, to get different sounds. He asked me to play with him."[4] At the same time, the multi-instrumentalist Donald Garrett, who had played with Coltrane's group in 1961 as a second bassist,[5] was also asked to sit in. At the end of the two-week gig, both Sanders and Garrett were asked to join the band, and accompanied it to the next engagement, September 27–October 2, at the Penthouse in Seattle.[3] On September 30, the group recorded the music heard on Live in Seattle (Impulse!, 1971) at the Penthouse,[6] and on October 1, they recorded Om (Impulse!, 1968) at a separate location.[7] They returned to the Penthouse the following day, where, with guest saxophonist Carlos Ward, they performed A Love Supreme.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic90/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [9]
The Australian     [10]
Financial Times     [11]
The Guardian     [12]
Pitchfork9.4/10[13]
Rolling Stone     [14]
The Telegraph     [15]

On review aggregator Metacritic, the album has a score of 92 out of 100 from seven critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[8] A review in Relix calls this recording "a 75-minute journey through free-jazz heaven".[16]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by John Coltrane

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle track listing
No.TitleLength
1."A Love Supreme, Pt. 1 – Acknowledgement"21:53
2."Interlude 1"2:28
3."A Love Supreme, Pt. 2 – Resolution"11:05
4."Interlude 2"6:23
5."A Love Supreme, Pt. 3 – Pursuance"15:27
6."Interlude 3"6:31
7."Interlude 4"4:20
8."A Love Supreme, Pt. 4 – Psalm"7:21
Total length:75:28

Personnel

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The John Coltrane Quartet

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Additional personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 17
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[22] 54
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[23] 50
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[24] 30
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[25] 31
Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 83
US Billboard 200[29] 78
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[30] 1

References

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  1. ^ Gotrich, Lars (October 18, 2021). "NPR Music's Listening Party for John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle'". All Songs Considered. Retrieved October 27, 2021 – via NPR.
  2. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (October 19, 2021). "What a Rare, Live 'A Love Supreme' Reveals About John Coltrane". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 330.
  4. ^ Porter, Lewis (1999). John Coltrane: His Life and Music. University of Michigan Press. p. 264.
  5. ^ Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 217.
  6. ^ "John Coltrane - Live in Seattle". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  7. ^ "John Coltrane - Om". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle by John Coltrane Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  9. ^ Jurek, Thom. "A Love Supreme (Live in Seattle) – John Coltrane | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Myers, Eric (October 8, 2021). "Coltrane's live Love Supreme a disappointing fizzer". The Australian. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Hobart, Mike (October 23, 2021). "John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle is fuelled by emotional power". Financial Times. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Fordham, John (October 8, 2021). "John Coltrane: A Love Supreme Live in Seattle review – a unique record of a landmark band". The Guardian. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  13. ^ Richardson, Mark (October 27, 2021). "John Coltrane: A Love Supreme Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  14. ^ Shteamer, Hank (October 19, 2021). "John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle' Shows That His Masterpiece Was a Perpetual Work in Progress". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  15. ^ Hewett, Ivan (October 7, 2021). "A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle review: this lost John Coltrane record is a wild, ecstatic slice of jazz history". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  16. ^ "John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle". Relix. December 7, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  17. ^ "Austriancharts.at – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  18. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  21. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Italiancharts.com – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  23. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2021/10/27 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  24. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-11-01" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  25. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  26. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  27. ^ "Swisscharts.com – John Coltrane – A Love Supreme - Live in Seattle". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  28. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "John Coltrane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  30. ^ "John Coltrane Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2021.