this collection feautures mr. coltrane from his period with impulse records, a time that saw the tenor giant move from his sheets of sound into his great quartet of himself, mccoy tyner on piano, jimmy garrison on bass, and elvin jones on drums. this quartet began expanding the form and sound of jazz into revolutionary directions that would culminate in mr. coltrane's great experiments in free jazz. here, the emphasis is on hearing mr. coltrane's work with standards, timeless popular songs used as the foundation for expressing oneself bending and playing within the tune. mr. coltrane shows his ability to give straight interpretations full of the feeling and emotion of the original songs, highlights being "lush life" and "autumn serenade" with johnny hartman on vocals. there also is the instrumental gem "what's new" from the "BALLADS" album. but mr. coltrane could also get inside a song, find a phrase or rhythm that intrigued him and use it for an exploration that would explode the original form and create music of blistering intensity and incomparable feeling, getting at the spirit and soul of the artist. highlights of that are "inch worm" and "greensleeves." all in all, this is an admirable compilation that gives snapshot of the genius that was john coltrane. great for starters.

A must have for any Coltrane fan. Coltrane takes old standards from the Great American Songbook and makes them his own. Soft and lyrical. The album also has the added bonus of two cuts with Johnny Hartman on vocals, probably one of the best collaborations ever between musician and singer.

The Impulse label has done a great service to jazz neophytes by compiling a wide selection of Coltrane's pop interpretations on one CD (each of Coltrane's original albums typically contained one or two such standards). My only complaint is that this package does not include his landmark renditions of "My Favorite Things" or "Summertime" - but these are widely available elsewhere and perhaps the label was afraid that including them on this disc might discourage its purchase by people already owning them. As another reviewer has pointed out, this is a great starter set for pop music fans wanting an easy introduction to Coltrane's genius - though of course if you want to hear his own compositions (and you will!) you'll have to look elsewhere.