The third volume documenting the work John Coltrane released on Impulse! collects albums from the mid to late-1960s. While detractors accused Coltrane of playing "anti-jazz" during this late phase, the perspective provided by both time and box sets like THE IMPULSE! ALBUMS VOL. 3 reminds the world that Coltrane was making some of his most adventurous and important music on THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET PLAYS, ASCENSION, NEW THING AT NEWPORT, KULU SE MAMA, and MEDITATIONS.

When listened to chronologically, these albums represent a staggeringly rapid development. From his last effort with his classic quartet (THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET PLAYS) through the fiery, free improvisations on ASCENSION and the multiphonic experimentation of MEDITATIONS, Coltrane experimented with world music, free rhythm, repetition, and bracing avant garde in various settings (including big bands and duos). It's difficult to overstate the achievement of these albums, or their beauty.

Packaged together in this five-disc box set as part of Verve's excellent Originals series, these titles represent a little over half of the studio sides that John Coltrane and his quartet, as well as his sextet, cut in 1965, between February and November. While it's true that many musicians recorded often during the '50s and '60s -- recorded sessions paid as well or better than gigs for sidemen anyway -- when given the range of expression and growth found here, this is an astonishing accomplishment, especially given the consistent quality of the music. These dates include, in order of recording dates: The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Chim Chim Cheree, Song of Praise, Nature Boy, Braziliana, Kulu S‚ Mama, Ascension, New Thing at Newport (a split album with the Archie Shepp quartet), and Meditations with Pharoah Sanders and Rashied Ali added to the ranks of the 'Trane, with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones' quartet. If you have these recordings already, these masters are superior to anything issued in the United States before, if you don't, and are interested in Coltrane's music you need them -- especially for the super budget price tag. ~ Thom Jurek