The Heavyweight Champion - The Complete Atlantic Recordings (7-CD Box Set)

This 7-CD box set features every track John Coltrane recorded for Atlantic Records, spanning January 15, 1959 to May 25, 1961. Including songs sequenced by recording date. It also includes a 72-page book-let with liner notes, interviews and remembrances of John Coltrane by Lewis Porter, Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef and Charles Lloyd.

After his tenure in the great mid-'50s Miles Davis group, Coltrane was ready to strike out on his own. Although he had recorded several records on the smaller Prestige label, Coltrane's first major label association was with Ahmet Ertegun's Atlantic Records. Now all of 'Trane's pioneering Atlantic recordings are compiled in one huge 7-disc set entitled "The Heavyweight Champion".

As the content attests, this title is a fitting analogy. Starting with the early recordings with Milt Jackson for the 'Bags & Trane' album, the set chronologically follows Coltrane's work through the groundbreaking 'Giant Steps' sessions and beyond. Many alternate takes are sprinkled throughout amidst familiar album tracks from the likes of 'Coltrane Jazz', 'Coltrane Plays the Blues' and the magnificent 'My Favorite Things', giving a picture of the saxophonist's intense creativity at this period. This set is a powerful document of one of the most significant artists of the modern era in his prime.

Coltrane recorded 8 albums for Atlantic, plus two compilation albums released posthumously.

- Giant Steps (Atlantic SD1311) 1960
- Coltrane Jazz (Atlantic SD1354) 1961
- My Favorite Things (Atlantic SD1361) 1961
- Bags and Trane [with Milt Jackson] (Atlantic SD1368) 1961
- Olé Coltrane (Atlantic SD1373) 1962
- Coltrane Plays the Blues (Atlantic SD1382) 1962
- Coltrane's Sound (Atlantic SD1419) 1964
- The Avant-Garde [with Don Cherry] (Atlantic SD1451) 1966
- The Coltrane Legacy (Atlantic SD1553) 1970
- Alternate Takes (Atlantic SD1668) 1975

CD 7 features 68 minutes of previously unreleased rehearsals, false starts and all of Coltrane's Atlantic outtakes (the rest were lost due to fire).


Tracklisting:

CD 1
01. Stairway to the Stars 3:32
02. The Late Late Blues 9:33
03. Bags & Trane 7:24
04. Three Little Words 7:28
05. The Night We Called It a Day 4:20
06. Be-Bop 7:58
07. Blues Legacy 9:02
08. Centerpiece 7:06
09. Giant Steps (Alternate Version) 3:41
10. Naima (Alternate Version) 4:28
11. Like Sonny (Alternate Version) 6:03

CD 2
01. Spiral 3:56
02. Countdown 2:21
03. Countdown (Alternate Take) 4:32
04. Syeeda's Song Flute 7:00
05. Syeeda's Song Flute (Alternate Take) 7:05
06. Mr. P.C. 6:56
07. Giant Steps 4:44
08. Cousin Mary 5:46
09. Cousin Mary (Alternate Take) 5:44
10. I'll Wait and Pray 3:32
11. I'll Wait and Pray (Alternate Take) 3:25
12. Little Old Lady 4:24

CD 3
01. Like Sonny 5:51
02. Harmonique 4:10
03. My Shining Hour 4:50
04. Naima 4:20
05. Some Other Blues 5:34
06. Fifth House 4:38
07. CherryCo 6:45
08. The Blessing 7:50
09. Focus on Sanity 12:11
10. The Invisible 4:10
11. Bemsha Swing 5:04

CD 4
01. Village Blues 5:20
02. Village Blues (Alternate Take) 6:14
03. My Favorite Things 13:41
04. Central Park West 4:12
05. Mr. Syms 5:20
06. Untitled Original (Exotica) 5:19
07. Summertime 11:32
08. Body and Soul 5:35
09. Body and Soul (Alternate Take) 5:57
10. Mr. Knight 7:31

CD 5
01. Blues to Elvin (Alternate Take) 10:57
02. Blues to Elvin 7:51
03. Mr. Day 7:53
04. Blues to You (Alternate Take) 5:32
05. Blues to You 6:26
06. Blues to Bechet 5:44
07. Satellite 5:48
08. Everytime We Say Goodbye 5:39
09. 26-2 6:10
10. But Not for Me 9:34

CD 6
01. Liberia 6:48
02. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes 6:48
03. Equinox 8:32
04. Olé 18:13
05. Dahomey Dance 10:49
06. Aisha 7:37
07. Original Untitled Ballad (To Her Ladyship) 8:58

CD 7
Giant Steps (Alternate Version)
01. Take 1 (Incomplete) 4:43
02. Take 2 (False Start) 0:14
03. Take 3 (Incomplete) 2:51
04. Take 4 (Incomplete) 1:19
05. Take 5 (Alternate) 3:40
06. Take 6 (False Start) 0:32
07. Take 7 (Incomplete) 4:12
Naima (Alternate Version)
08. Take 1 (Incomplete) 3:20
09. Take 2 (Incomplete) 3:24
10. Take 4 (False Start) 0:15
11. Take 5 (Alternate) 3:50
12. Take 6 (Alternate) 3:38
Like Sonny (Alternate Version)
13. Rehearsal 1 (False Start) 0:09
14. Rehearsal 2 (Incomplete) 1:34
15. Take 1 (False Start) 0:19
16. Take 2 (Incomplete) 3:08
17. Take 3 (Incomplete) 1:08
18. Take 4 (False Start) 0:07
19. Take 5 (Alternate) 8:24
20. Take 6 (Incomplete) 1:09
Giant Steps (Master Version)
21. Take 3 (Incomplete) 4:06
22. Take 6 (Alternate) 4:54
Blues to Elvin (Master Version)
23. Take 2 (False Start) 0:10
23. Take 3 (Alternate) 6:02
24. Blues to You (Take 2) (Alternate) 5:30

Original recordings produced by Nesuhi Ertegun

All sessions recorded at Atlantic Studios and A & R Studios, New York City

Remastered from the original stereo master tapes by Gene Paul
Art & Design Concept: Geoff Gans
Photography: Chuck Stewart, Jimmy Heath, Lee Friedlander, Lee Tanner & Michael Ochs Archives

Compilation producer: Joel Dorn
Executive producer: Patrick Milligan
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Reviews:

"The Heavyweight Champion is a box set that lives up to its title. Collecting all of John Coltrane's Atlantic recordings, including a fair number of unreleased takes as well as an entire disc of alternate tracks and studio chatter, the seven-disc box set documents a pivotal moment in Coltrane's career, as he was moving from hard bop and sweet standards to a more daring, experimental style of playing influenced by the avant-garde. Much of the music is hard bop (Giant Steps) or lushly melodic (My Favorite Things), but the latter discs show the saxophonist coming to terms with the more experimental movements in jazz. The scope of this music is, quite simply, breathtaking -- not only was Coltrane developing at a rapid speed, but the resulting music encompasses nearly every element that made him a brilliant musician, and it is beautiful."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine -All MUsic Guide