John Coltrane - One Down, One Up - Live at the Half Note

"Jazz fans, 'fess up: Who among us wouldn't take a time machine back to hear the Coltrane Quartet live at the height of its career? One Down, One Up transports us to March and May of 1965. In a perfect world, we'd sit in for the entire sets – 'A Love Supreme' begins during Jimmy Garrison's solo 35 minutes into the song, before giving us 28 minutes of 'Trane playing hard. Of course we want it all, but what we get is pretty special. The band is on for both sessions, especially Tyner, and other than a few dropouts, the sound is very good." – Wes Phillips, Stereophile, February 2007

These live recordings capture the classic John Coltrane Quartet at full strength in what would prove to be its last year of existence. The 1965 Half Note recordings, taken from late-night radio broadcasts and until now available only as inferior-quality bootlegs, have long had legendary status among aficionados – especially the extended performance of “One Down, One Up,” regarded by many as one of Coltrane’s greatest recorded improvisations. Newly transferred from Coltrane’s personal master tapes, these remarkable performances can at last be heard with the fidelity they deserve.