Way back in the 1960s, a ton of great musical releases were defining Jazz, and indeed, music history in general. This is one of them, and what a fine release it is! Known to be one of the greatest Jazz albums of all time, John Coltrane puts in a superb effort here. Let’s take a listen and see how this musical journey goes.

We begin with A Love Supreme, Pt. I – Acknowledgement which begins with some heavy percussion and some great Jazz saxophone being played. It is an exciting listen from the word go. Some double bass notes then enter, and we go into a great Jazz groove. Piano and saxophone mesh together as the main instruments, and it is a superb combination. It sounds amazing, even today. The whole piece sounds wonderfully worked on, and is fantastic to hear. Some pacing percussion is here too, showing that drum parts can indeed, be catchy. The whole thing never bores you. The instruments fill their own space here, and it sounds as though the whole thing didn’t need additional production, unlike a lot of the music made today. All in all, a great piece of music and showing that saxophonists can be great, too. It goes quieter towards the end, with a chanted vocal of the title of the album, which is pretty cool. The whole thing quietens right down after that, become a great piece of subtlety. We finish with some cool double bass notes which are nice.

After that we come to A Love Supreme, Pt. II – Resolution which begins with some more catchy double bass playing, which is really unique, jazzy and superb. The rest of the band comes in without warning and they play very well. John Coltrane’s saxophone and the pacing drums make this piece strong and unique in the field of Jazz music. The drumming in particular is absolutely superb. Shortly into it, the piano enters and sounds sensational, with plenty of crazy sounding fills and expertise in playing. This is really great music, even if you are not a huge Jazz music fan. These guys must have played their instruments 24/7, only a truly great performer could pull off such a performance as this one. John Coltrane and co. give it well over 100% here, showcasing their strengths. The saxophone returns to this track after an extended piano part, showing that Miles Davis indeed had competition in his time. It may have inspired some future rock acts such as King Crimson as well. This is pure gold for music, and must be heard. The drumming is complex and powerful, propelling this song along easily. A great track that is simple in layout, but complex musically. Energetic and very precise, this is wonderful. Towards the end, things go low key and we finish nicely.

A Love Supreme, Pt. III – Pursuance begins with complicated Jazz drumming here that likely influenced rock greats such as Cream and Black Sabbath. It is awesome to hear, and is so well done your ears will thank you. The drum solo here is energetic, wonderful and listenable here. Some of the best drumming you will hear during your music listening life is here. Shortly afterwards, the saxophone and piano emerge to join the super energetic drumming. It goes into a very upbeat and energetic Jazz piece that sounds really excellent to this day. The piano playing in particular is fantastic. The melodies are clever, fast, complex and interesting. It is like these guys took energy drinks before recording, this is a tremendous effort from John Coltrane and his band. The whole thing is impressive. The saxophone returns to make John Coltrane’s mark in the music world stand tall and clear. It is even more energetic than some Hardcore Punk music out there, this is really excellent. The drumming here is unbelievably good. A strong and totally enjoyable piece of music. It goes into some more energetic drum soloing here, A Love Supreme indeed. The other instruments fade away with some great double bass playing on its own, showcasing the talent that these musicians had. It is an interesting listen, using some unusual melodies and interpretation for the double bass. This melodic double bass solo continues through to the end, and goes down very very well.

A Love Supreme, Pt. IV – Psalm is the final piece on this album, and begins with some dark sounding percussion and some great simple saxophone playing by John Coltrane. It is a unique piece, sounding much unlike anything else out there in the world of most music in music history. After the sugar rush of the previous part, this is a nice and relaxing listen. It is a low key yet consistent listen. The playing on each instrument is wonderful and top notch. This is a strange side of the record, sounding somewhat eerie, but still using the traditional Jazz instrumentation ready at hand. There are some well done crash cymbals here on top of the rather odd musicality here. The whole piece sounds brilliant. Eventually the piece evolves into a much more subtle listen towards the end. A nice finish to a wonderful album that is one of the defining albums of Jazz music in general. A grand finale finishes this top album off.

This is by far one of the greatest Jazz music albums of all time. That is not an understatement. If you don’t really dig Miles Davis and want some Jazz music different from his, this is a great starting place for this wide genre of music. A Love Supreme, indeed. It was all recorded in a one day session, too.

Intelligent.

9/10