Unreleased John Coltrane Album Set For Release On Impulse!

Written by | New Releases, News

In 1964, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet went into Van Gelder Studios and, in an unprecedented move for Coltrane, recorded new versions of some of his most famous works. This never-before-heard recording Blue World will be released on September 27th in CD, vinyl LP and digital editions via Impulse!/Ume, with the title track available to stream and download today.  

Early in 1964, the year he recorded A Love Supreme, Coltrane was approached by a Quebecois filmmaker, Gilles Groulx. Groulx was planning his film “Le chat dans le sac”, a love story set in Montreal with political undertones and, being a die-hard Coltrane fan, he was fixated on having Coltrane record a soundtrack for his film. He approached the saxophonist via a personal connection with bassist Jimmy Garrison and Coltrane agreed. Between the recording sessions for Crescent and A Love Supreme in June of ‘64, Coltrane brought Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner into Van Gelder Studios to do something virtually unprecedented in Coltrane’s world: revisit and record earlier works.

Recorded on 1/4″ analogue mono tape, the session was mixed by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios on June 24, 1964. Groulx took the master to Canada to use in his film, although he only included ten minutes of the 37-minute recording. Blue World has been mastered from its original analogue tape by Kevin Reeves at Universal Music Mastering in New York. The new vinyl edition’s lacquers were cut by Ron McMaster at Capitol Studios.

Blue World follows on the heels of last year’s global success Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album, a studio album recorded in 1963 that revealed new compositions from Coltrane and the Classic Quartet at their peak. Both Directions At Once landed Coltrane at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, his highest debut ever.

Release Date: 27 September 2019
Format: CD, Vinyl, Digital & Streaming
Label: Impulse Records

Last modified: August 16, 2019