Home Read Albums Of The Week: John Coltrane | Blue Train: The Complete Masters

Albums Of The Week: John Coltrane | Blue Train: The Complete Masters

The groundbreaking jazz saxophonist's 1957 masterpiece returns in both mono & stereo formats — accompanied by a bonus disc of alternate takes & false starts.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Sept. 15, 1957, John Coltrane went into Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio in Hackensack, N.J., and recorded his first great masterpiece: Blue Train. It would be the legendary saxophonist’s sole album as a leader for Blue Note, a locomotive five-track album fuelled by the bluesy title track that featured a dynamic six-piece band with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

To mark the 65th anniversary of the album’s recording, Blue Train will be released in two special editions as part of Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet audiophile vinyl reissue series: A single-LP mono pressing of the original album and a two-LP stereo pressing of Blue Train: The Complete Masters, which includes a second disc of alternate and incomplete takes which have never been released before. The two-LP set comes with a bound booklet featuring never-before-seen session photos by Francis Wolff and an essay by Coltrane expert Ashley Kahn.

Both Tone Poet vinyl editions were produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in deluxe gatefold jackets.