Coming on the heels of Blue Note's highly publicized and equally highly anticipated "Thelonius Monk Quartet with John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall," Impulse! releases yet another performance from the vault by John Coltrane and his celebrated quartet (Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Elvin Jones). Produced by Coltrane's son, Ravi, and containing performances from two nights at the Half Note in New York City, such a cast and setting seems to make this recording too good to pass up. However, even though this album features two full discs of live Coltrane, we are presented with only four extended cuts: "One Down, One Up," which is the lengthy highlight of the album, a shorter "Afro-Blue," an astounding, passionate rendition of "Song of Praise," and a 23-minute foray into sonic pyrotechnics with Coltrane's staple, "My Favorite Things."

If you are a Coltrane completist, such as myself, then you probably realize that we've seen a release similar to this already: LaserLight's "Live at the Half Note" released a few years back. And if you own this disc, then you'll find you already own two of the tracks featured here. I find it disappointing that Impulse! is unable to deliver the entire performances from the Half Note. However, in terms of sound quality, this album wins hands down

In terms of live performance, these two discs cannot measure up to the audible ferocity and contrasting poignant lyricism which makes up the "Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings" or even the Master Takes from those sessions - but I doubt anything ever could topple such a performance from its throne. However, I find this performance much more personable, more directed and whole lot more listenable than the 4-CD "Live in Japan" or the comparable 2-CD "Live in Seattle." In terms of an actual album, these two discs present a very cohesive rhythmic outfit with Garrison, Tyner, and Jones always keeping ahead of Coltrane's improvisational shenanigans.

As a completist, this album isn't worth passing up. However, as a casual listener still unfamiliar with Coltrane's more exploratory ventures within his own music, I recommend "Live at Birdland" or the "Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings" before diving into something as involved and multifaceted as this album.

As a Coltrane nut, I've had the legendary "One Down, One Up" on bootleg for years, and it's long been my single favorite Coltrane performance. And I'm very pleased with this purchase. The sound quality for all four tracks is much improved over the bootlegs, even if it doesn't match the 1961 Vanguard shows recorded by Impulse's Bob Thiele. There's an extended bass intro to One Up One Down that I hadn't heard, and even the complete radio announcements are historically interesting.

The dropouts that a few reviewers mention for the title track are really not a problem, if you can accept the fact that the master tapes aren't in pristine condition. There are no actual gaps in the performance, and the brief drops in volume were done well and aren't jarring.

As Coltrane collectors know, there are four radio broadcasts from the Half Note from 1965 widely traded as bootlegs. This package includes two of them, complete. I sure hope the Coltrane estate also has master-quality copies of the other two broadcasts.

The Half Note set, recorded in 1965 by the classic John Coltrane Quartet, has been floating around for years as an authorized bootleg, available in the only shoddiest fidelity. This Impulse! Recording, sanctioned by the Coltrane estate and produced by John's son Ravi, sounds wonderful. Finally, we get to hear "One Down, One Up" in all its glory from the March 26, 1965 performance. This performance stands right up there with "Out of this World," "Chasin' the Trane" and "I Want to Talk to You" (the "Coltrane Live at Birdland" performance) as one of his great transitional, commanding performances. There is an extended section in the middle of the track where Coltrane improvises with only drummer Elvin Jones accompanying him. This looks back to the amazing "Countdown" (on "Giant Steps"), but also looks forward to similar sections of the "A Love Supreme" suite as it was played in France later in 1965 and the sax/drums duets with Rashied Ali on his swansong studio session "Interstellar Space."

The other performances here are very good, but better live excursions exist elsewhere. "Afro Blue" appears in its definitely state on "Coltrane Live at Birdland," while the 40 minute version on "Live in Japan" is also a formidable performance. The version of "Song of Praise" here is quite lovely. "My Favorite Things," as performed here, can never top its studio version, though the live version from Coltrane's last recorded concert on "The Olatunji Concert," where he ferociously duels with Pharoah Sanders and the drumming of Ali, is much more compelling.

This set is highly recommended, but proceed with caution. It is disrupted by radio announcements (by Alan Grant) which cut the songs off. This is quite a buzzkill, to say the least. If you can forgive this (is there a mastertape without the announcements?), "One Down, One Up" is a very high quality set for those interested in Coltrane's journey following "A Love Supreme."

I was surprised when this album got released. It contains previously unreleased songs at fairly good sound quality. At this point in time its hard to imagine music this good, from such an influential artist, to have remained in hiding since 1965. To those who are unfamiliar with Coltrane, this is a live radio broadcast of Coltrane with his classic quartet lineup just a short time before Coltrane radically changed directions. To the Coltrane fan its an indispensable addition. It is sheer joy to listen to "One Down, One Up" which, to my understanding, has been influencing jazz musicians for many years in bootleg formats. Also, Coltrane's revisting of his standards, such as "Afro Blue" and "My Favourite Things", document his growth and show how much he had changed since he first recorded versions of those songs earlier that decade. Having said that, to those who are not Coltrane fans and want to get initiated, I would recomend earlier albums from the classic quartet. For example, if you dont have "Love Supreme", I would ask, why not? It is, at least, the most universally loved of his albums. If you like to buck the convention, I still would recomend earlier albums such as "Crescent" (recorded just a few months before Love Supreme) or the album entitled simply "Coltrane", his first studio album with the classic quartet for Impulse records. I am pleased to see that this album is selling well, which is a testament to Coltrane's reputation. It is a great and historic jazz album. I would readily acknowledge, however, that this album is definitely a non-conventional jazz album that may not appeal to those who like traditional jazz.

I was really annoyed by the announcer stepping all over the best parts of some of the solos but even more annoyed that the best tunes are cut off probably only half-way into the tunes. Just when Trane starts stretching out, the announcer comes in and the songs are cut. Get the Village Vanguard recordings first. I saw Pharoah Sanders do a version of My Favorite Things at Blues Alley for over an hour and it was a spiritual experience that will never be equalled. I hate to think of what I missed with these recordings... it's depressing.