trageser.com
Music Review

Home
Computers
Book Reviews and Reading Diary
CD Buying Guide and Music Links
Best-of lists
CD Reviews
CDs, sorted by Style
CDs, sorted by year issued
CDs, sorted by publication review ran in
CDs by San Diego bands
All CDs, sorted by band name
All CDs, sorted by album title
Interviews
Favorite quotations
Contact Me



A grand introduction

The Last Giant
The Last Giant
By John Coltrane

Rhino / Atlantic Records: 1993

Buy it on CD now from Amazon.com
Buy it now


This review first appeared in the July 30, 1993 issue of the North County Blade-Citizen (now North County Times).

The first in a line of two-CD retrospectives drawn from Atlantic's vast collection of classic jazz, this Rhino releases traces saxophonist John Coltrane's career from his very earliest days with Dizzy Gillespie in the late '40s and early '50s through his period with Miles Davis in the mid- to late '50s to his most influential solo period in the early '60s.

All the great cuts are here, from "Trinkle Tinkle" with Thelonious Monk to "Giant Steps" and studio and live versions of "My Favorite Things." There are also some previously unreleased tracks, including a jam session with some fellow Navy musicians in 1946.

It's hard to describe just what a classy release this is, from the cloth-bound two-CD folio to the poetic yet informative booklet to the quality of the sound recording. There are notes from veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler, and a short essay by Ed Bradley of "60 Minutes."

This is just a top-quality package from top to bottom, reasonably priced and, if not a comprehensive collection of Coltrane's musical legacy, the best introduction to his music and history for which one could ask.