If you know and love John Coltrane's quintessential "A love supreme" then you also need to hear the version included in this performance. Following on from the cathartic experiment that was "Ascension", this interpretation is much freer than the original as well as being fifteen minutes longer.

The group (Coltrane's "classic" quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums) are all on excellent form and although they adhere to the same four-part structure of the studio recording, things start to get really interesting during the "Pursuance" section which culminates in a frenetic duet between Coltrane and Jones. Then, in an extended "Psalm", Trane breaks free from the self-imposed restrictions of the original to produce a blistering coda of overtone exploration....

This is the only live version of 'A Love Supreme' and is really worth having it since everything played by Trane in Juan les Pins and Paris that summer is first class Trane.

I got a really old scratchy CD of this concert, but the sound blows me away. Coltrane's one and only live version of A Love Supreme (actually he performed parts of it live later, but these are lost to history) is truly a revelation. It is much less meditative than the studio version, with a hard edged sound that is typical of Coltrane's live performances.

Acknowledgement: Unfortunately this track, the most famous, is also the least inspired. Coltrane seems almost weary during his solos, and the repeated Love Supreme motif in several keys seems forced and sloppy this time. There is no chanting. The tune simply breaks off strangely.

Resolution: This movement, representing Coltrane's resolution to give up drugs and follow the "esteemed path" is a brutal, agonising channeling of pain. Coltrane at one stage makes a noise I have never heard on a sax before - a kind of puffing asthmatic sound that is rather disturbing. The general atmosphere is one of pain and anguish, which is very suitable for the movement.

Pursuance: This movement, representing Coltrane's pursuance of the "love supreme", is even more far out than the previous movement. The performance of "Pursuance" here is widely regarded as a masterpiece of improvisation, and I can't argue with that. Trane had taken a big step towards the avant-garde by this time, and you can hear it.

Psalm: If anything this is even farther out than "Pursuance", because there is no beat. Trane almost totally ignores the words to his poem, and after about two bars from the original version he goes way, way out. He does a call and response series, in which he barks out a motif in an avant garde screech, then answers it with a melodious and reflective motif.


Impressions: A ten minute bass solo precedes an ear-stretching series of solos by Trane that almost totally obliterate the original melody. When the head of the tune reappears at the end, it is almost unrecogniseable amongst the squeaks and hoots.

The version I have also includes Naima. This is my favorite version of this Coltrane standard; Coltrane's 1965 sound stretches the boundaries of the old Quartet sound, so that the usually reflective, peaceful tune suddenly vanishes in a welter of emotive screaming - before miraculously returning at the end, unscathed. This is truly a remarkable performance.

I think you have to be a really serious fan of Coltrane to enjoy this album. Without hearing another version of Love Supreme before listening to this one, I don't think you can appreciate the longer version. I would not want this to be one's first exposure to John Coltrane - older and less unconventional pieces like Equinox, My Favorite Things, and others might be a better place to start. I am only a casual Coltrane fan, and I was put off by both tracks.

This performance has been issued under several labels, one which added Naima as a bonus track.

I just want want to say that the last time I was in Antibes, the weather was divine, the beer was flowing and john coltrane was blowing. it was great. Get this cd!