Unfortunate Coltrane's edition
This edition is really great but unfortunately have deffects of issued. the CD1 have jumps and silents on differents songs. I have received both from Amazon, a second one in replacement of first I have requested and both are in same condition. Really sad because it is a great Coltrane edition.

Gabriel Borrajo

My God! Who needs 6 false starts to "giant Steps" after all?
While most of this is essential, some is not, such as Avant-Garde, on which Trane sounds quite awkward (and the music's not really "out" anyways), and Ole is, well, just boring and confused. Giant Steps, however, and Coltrane's Sound, and Favorite Things are as good as jazz gets. But for this, buy the CDs individually; that way you get the proper order as intended.

chronological conundrum
As many jazz fans reading this review already know, there are eight albums John Coltrane recorded for Atlantic, 1959-1961:

BAGS AND TRANE ( w/ Milt Jackson )
GIANT STEPS
COLTRANE JAZZ
THE AVANT-GARDE ( w/ Don Cherry )
MY FAVORITE THINGS
COLTRANE PLAYS THE BLUES
COLTRANE'S SOUND
OLE

Given the sheer excellence of these recordings ( "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things" are landmarks ), this reviewer is more than a little sheepish at having to slap a 3 star rating on the "Heavyweight Champion" box set. Why? Well, it's certainly not due to the music, for I haven't any doubt whatsoever as to either its inherent quality or artistic significance. And obviously, the low rating can't be chalked up to packaging details, which are uniformly tasteful: the hard-cover booklet, more a "mini-book", is exemplary and there is a truly spectacular "extra" ( ingeniously encased in a replica of a reel-to-reel tape box ) in the form of a disc devoted to virtually *all* of the takes ( partial & complete ) of Trane's groundbreaking tune, "Giant Steps".

No, the crux of my complaint resides in what I strongly feel is an aesthetic violation: the fact that this box set, like so many others, arranges all of the music ( including alternate takes ) in strict chronological order. While this approach certainly has merits for extended live recordings or certain unique studio projects ( eg, Art Tatum's mammoth sessions for Norman Granz ), I find it has little *artistic* ( as opposed to musicological ) justification when applied to a body of work that stands so close to perfection through the arrangement its creator fashioned. Undoubtedly, there are those who truly enjoy fastidious methods of tracing artistic development, but I question whether any other than the most rigorous would be worse off just exploring the albums in their original form with alternate takes placed as appendices at the "bottom" of each particular work. And in fact, all of the work contained in this box set *is* currently available in just such a format. I highly recommend the prospective buyer think this over prior to making an investment; for those other than collectors who just *have* to have the set for the complete takes/outakes of "Giant Steps" ( I admit I wouldn't part with it ), the individual album route makes much more sense.

The total package...
This is a truly great box set.

First, the music. While I think the peaks of Coltrane's Impulse! years exceed the peaks of his Atlantic years, these Atlantic recordings are astonishingly and consistently strong from start to finish, and document one of the most interesting (and rapid) progressions in Jazz history.

Second, these are nicely mastered - great sound!

Third, the liner notes are actually well-written and interesting, with a nice mix of personal and musical history from different writers and musicians.

The 7th disc is arguably only for the hardcore music-geek fan, but it's worth at least a listen or two to just about anyone.

A box set of great music packaged just right. Love it!

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION IS KNOCKOUT
A fascinating insight into the artistic development of one of the great innovators in jazz through his earlier recordings. Highly recommended.