John Coltrane - A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle 1965

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle features only the second known concert recording of John Coltrane's legendary suite. The set was captured by saxophonist and educator Joe Brazil in 1965 on the final night of Coltrane’s weeklong stint at the Penthouse in Seattle. The lineup featured legendary musicians Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, and more.

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle was restored and mastered by Kevin Reeves at East Iris Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The recording is particularly notable as Coltrane rarely performed A Love Supreme in full after its studio recording in 1964. For more than six decades, it was believed that the only recorded public performance of A Love Supreme was from a French festival at Juan-Les-Pains in July 1965. That version was released nearly twenty years ago. Joe Brazil’s tape reels from the 1965 Seattle set remained in his private collection until now.

While the studio version of A Love Supreme will always be definitive, but there’s something magical and almost transgressive about hearing a loose and rowdy septet power through the four movements of this now-canonical work.

A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle was recorded with a two-microphone set-up onstage, connected to an Ampex reel-to-reel machine. “What’s remarkable is that tapes from this era often suffer over the years from heat or moisture damage, or simply being stacked horizontally,” engineer Kevin Reeves said in a press release. “However, these tapes are in excellent condition, and the results are among the best amateur recordings of John Coltrane we’ve had the pleasure to work on.” The album features liner notes written by music historian Ashley Kahn.

Heavyweight double vinyl produced by Impulse! Records in 2021. Gatefold sleeve. Extensive liner notes.