Branford Marsalis Quartet – Coltrane’s A Love Supreme: Live in Amsterdam – Marsalis Music/ OKeh 88875069032 – CD + DVD (2003/2015)
DVD:
Video: 16:9 color
Audio: 5:1 surround, PCM stereo
Extras: Live at the Binhuis, Alice Coltrane interview, musicians interviews, bonus tour footage
Length: CD – 48:45 / DVD – 110:38
(Branford Marsalis: saxophone; Joey Calderazzo – piano; Eric Revis – bass; Jeff “Tain” Watts – drums)
Recorded in 2003 at Amsterdam’s Binhuis club, and re-released as a CD/DVD set last month to honor the 50th anniversary of the original album, Branford Marsalis’ quartet performs John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme suite. The passion found in Branford’s tenor combined with his longterm bandmates’ accompaniment sets the bar high for definitive performances of Coltrane’s iconic masterpiece.
Coltrane’s A Love Supreme has been a staple in any worthwhile jazz disc collection and serious jazz fans can immediately recognize the suite and most of the suite’s sections. In evaluating the performance of music of this caliber, it is the dedication and passion that the artists bring that is the true test. This is not music approached academically, but from the heart and soul. Branford compares the academic approach as simply “playing the notes” as opposed to the soul transformation expressed by Coltrane’s widow, Alice, in her interview with Marsalis included as a bonus feature with the live DVD performance in Amsterdam. It takes “dues paid” and life experience to approach the musical complexity that Coltrane brought to his masterwork. The Marsalis quartet passes this test with honor and love.
The band members (and fellow contemporaries) share their thoughts in interviews regarding their inspiration for playing the suite as well as how A Love Supreme has influenced their musical careers.
TrackList:
A Love Supreme – Part 1- Acknowledgment
A Love Supreme – Part II – Resolution
A Love Supreme – Part III- Pursuance
A Love Supreme – Part IV- Psalm
—Jeff Krow
