Fearless Leader
Younger fans may think John Coltrane can't possibly have recorded everything on this six-box Prestige collection in only a year and a half--the first session being in May 1957, the last in December 1958. These days, even the most prolific artists are lucky if they get to record once a year. But these chronologically ordered standards and bop-school exercises, a good chunk of which was released years after the fact, flowed at a time when albums were only beginning to become artful  Albums and spending time in the studio was how artists developed. Recorded during the same period asThelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: Live at  Carnegie Hall, one of a pair of 2005 discoveries that repolished Coltrane's legend, the music has its inconsistencies and misfires. In the company of such players as pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, trumpeters Wilbur Harden and Freddie Hubbard and drummer Arthur Taylor, Coltrane was still working out his own sound on tenor saxophone--the revolutionary chord progressions of "Giant Steps" and incantatory preachings of "A Love Supreme" were still to come. But even the subpar performances are lifted by his remarkable streams of invention, sustained urgency and surpassing blend of power and beauty. The settings are mostly straight-ahead quartets and quintets, but there are also memorable trio performances such as "Trane's Slo Blues" and an invigorating sextet with baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab. Marking what would have been Coltrane's 80th birthday,Fearless Leaderis the first of three planned box sets to document his Prestige recordings, on which he also was featured as a sideman and all-star group stalwart. For those who care, the packaging and liner coverage is subpar.--Lloyd Sachs