The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings [Box] by John Coltrane

Pros: Genius at work.

Cons: Overkill?

The Bottom Line: Buy it if you can afford it or, better yet, check it out from the library if your library is that hip.

Review: No reasonable person needs all four CDs of John Coltrane's stand at the Village Vanguard in New York, November, 1961. But, fans--same root, after all, as fanatic--aren't reasonable people. If you are a die-hard fan of John Coltrane, you will want to...

Pros: it doesn't get more essential than this

Cons: zero

The Bottom Line: Coltrane is one of the seminal figures in modern jazz. Vanguard is Coltrane live. Live is the best context for jazz. Therefore...

Review: Coltrane was a master of studio manipulation on par and even better than Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. HE and the quartet/quintet/sextet and, later, even more, performed multiple takes of essential tracks like "Miles's Mode" "India" "Tunji" "Naima"...