Giant steps
This is the Coltrane live-performance DVD we've all been waiting for. Not only does it include the late saxophonist's famous 1961 German television appearance (in which the musicians play amidst a cool modernist steel-girder studio set), it also boasts ultra-rare footage of the Coltrane Quartet's dynamic set at a 1965 outdoor jazz festival in Belgium, a time when Trane was really pushing the avant-garde envelope. As if that weren't enough, this disc also presents a recently unearthed German TV broadcast from 1960, showing Coltrane playing with Miles Davis' rhythm section, plus guest artists Oscar Peterson and Stan Getz. The DVD is sequenced chronologically, and thus opens with Coltrane in concert with the Davis group (sans Miles). It's interesting to watch Coltrane holding himself back working within a more formal and less adventurous musical setting than the one he would soon adopt. He showcases his angular lyricism on several classic tunes included in the famous trumpeter's repertoire, playing beautifully with Davis' sidemen (Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb), but one can sense his impatience to break free of the group he'd been with for five years and hook up with more forward-thinking musicians. The 1961 TV performance finds him in the company of just such a group--pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, bassist Reggie Workman and alto saxophonist/flutist Eric Dolphy--as they burn through inspired renditions of "My Favorite Things," "Every Time We Say Goodbye" and "Impressions." As the camera darts around the expressionistic set, Coltrane and his hand picked musicians lay down the new musical language that was already shaking jazz's foundations. After Dolphy left and Workman was replaced by Jimmy Garrison, Coltrane's sound ascended to an even higher level of experimentation. Tyner's natural lyricism helped balance Coltrane's abstract excursions, while Garrison somehow kept the time and Jones laid down his own fierce polyrhythmic statements. However, this particular group was nearing the end of its run by the time of the Belgium gig--Tyner and Jones left some five months later. And Coltrane would give us just two more years of incredible music before prematurely leaving the planet, which makes these remarkable, rarely seen performances even more important historically and culturally.

Brilliant and Beyond
With this album and A Love Supreme I travel from one ecstatic experience to the next in Coltrane Land. The commentaries already posted pretty much cover the particulars.

Wow!!!
This is my 5th purchase of the Jazz Icon series, and if
you are a Coltrane fan, you must have this DVD. You'll
be saying to yourself, big dummy, I should have got the
box sets.

Fantastic surreal performances
These three black and white performances(two in Germany and one in Belgium) sport great performances by Coltrane, his quartet and guests Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz and Eric Dolphy. Wynton Kelly plays piano on the first track rather than McCoy Tyner. I was amazed at the quality of cinematography and editing. The last performance in Belgium in '65 has inspired performances all around and is visually stunning and surreal. Apparently, it was a very cold auditorium or outdoors. The performers' bodies, especially drummer Elvin Jones, literally steam!!! It was great to see how Coltrane's stage presence evolved from rather stilted to dynamic like a charismatic preacher. Things start a little slow and the bowed bass solos seem to add little, but the early Peterson solo and then all of the latter tracks blew me away! No interviews, no narration. Roughly 90 minutes of music.

Amazing!
The previous reviews have pretty much said it all, but all I want to say is that once you actually view these 3 sets - which are really three totally different experiences, you start to understand the true meaning of jazz. This was music played by incredible musicians for spiritual satisfaction. It's rare to witness that today.