They were found in his archive after his death in 2008.) (Brazil used the club system, two microphones and an Ampex reel-to-reel, and then preserved the tapes for nearly half a century, as if guarding a Holy Grail. Recorded at the end of a weeklong residency at The Penthouse by Joe Brazil, one of Coltrane's trusted friends, it presents this music in a glorious new light, and with remarkably clear sound.

The Antibes recording has stood as the lone living document of Coltrane's suite - until today, when Impulse! announced the October release of A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle. The set was included on a deluxe reissue of the album in 2002 this moment has also been preserved through some brief footage available online, which can feel almost miraculous to behold.įootage of Coltrane's performance in Antibes, France in 1965. That July, a month after the Ascension sessions, Coltrane and his quartet played the only widely known performance of A Love Supreme, at the Festival Jazz d'Antibes in Juan-les-Pins, France.

He was seeking a direct spiritual expression that would set the standard for a cadre of improvisers coming up behind him, like fellow tenor heralds Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, who both appeared on his free-jazz landmark, Ascension,in June of '65. The mid-'60s were a period of hurtling evolution for him, as he pushed ever further into musical catharsis and away from the familiar moorings of jazz performance. Jazz Night In America Saint Coltrane: The Church Built On 'A Love Supreme'įor Coltrane - among the most revered saxophonists, then as now - A Love Supreme also stood as a pinpoint moment in a changing picture.

Ashley kahn a love supreme