A fantastic addition to the John Coltrane catalog, and a set that's wonderful for so many different reasons it's hard to fit them all
in one short passage! As the title implies, the album features a rare live performance of "Love Supreme" – done
in 1965, when the work was new both to the world, and the classic Coltrane quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Yet the version here is also very different than the album reading – looser, with more "interlude" passages – at a level that already has the group drinking
in the spirit of the tune, and finding a way to rise with a new spiritual majesty! Another key part of the recording is the presence of Pharoah Sanders on tenor – making a very early appearance with the group – amidst a septet lineup that also features a very young Carlos Ward on alto, and Donald Rafael Garrett on bass – players who expand the lineup
in ways that show some of Coltrane's growing experiments past the quartet structure. The whole thing was recorded at the Penthouse Club
in Seattle – a place that's given us some other fantastic "lost" recordings from the 60s
in recent years – and the record is essential listening, even if you own the studio Love Supreme record, or any other Coltrane records at all.