Vital Reissues

JOHN COLTRANE
Living Space
REISSUE PRODUCER: Michael Cuscuna
ORIGINAL PRODUCERS: Bob Thiele, John Coltrane
Impulse! 246
Collecting some of the last tracks recorded by the great John Coltrane Quartet as an integral unit, "Living Space" is the latest in Impulse!'s exemplary reissue of the jazz giant's legacy. The album includes four tracks taped in 1965 by Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison, all 10 minutes or longer: the searching, serpentine title number, featuring Coltrane in counterpoint with himself via a second, overdubbed soprano sax line; the shadow-boxing "Dark-Dawn"; and two untitled works, the second especially potent. All four tracks were previously released on the Impulse! LP "The Mastery Of John Coltrane‹Volume One: Feelin' Good." An additional number, "The Last Blues," comes as a bonus: It's a 12-bar excursion that was lost for decades and recently recovered in the form of a mono tape in the Coltrane family archives. As usual with reissue producer Michael Cuscuna's work, the entire set sounds fresh and strong, with excellent packaging besides. Let's hope Impulse! will reissue "Transition" in digitally remastered form with a Digipak cover. Also just out in "The New Thing" series of Impulse!'s '60s reissues: a single-disc compilation of the master takes from the recent "John Coltrane: The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings" boxed set, as well as the febrile Archie Shepp disc "Mama Too Tight" from '66 and additional sets by Shepp, Jones/Garrison, Sun Ra, and Pharoah Sanders.