If you were allowed to own only one John Coltrane album, it would clearly have to be A Love Supreme. In Coltrane’s comparatively short career, there is no second album that could have repeated both the commercial success and the excellent reviews – including Grammy nominations. The 1964 album only features four tracks – and all three are praises of the gentleman without whom Coltrane, in his own opinion, would never have been able to create such music.
The John Coltrane Quartet in this case also consists of Jimmy Garrison on bass, McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums. The combo really works and if this album were longer, the listener would have to be supplied with a towel so that the musicians’ sweat drops that fly out of the speakers don’t become too big a problem.John Coltrane – A Love Supreme (Japanese UHQCD).
UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but rather cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to protect the softer photopolymer from scratching. The combination results in a significantly reduced reflection of the laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with normal CD players. Musically, the result is a sound that is strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.
