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A narrative of Coltrane as a kind of musical messiah explains the literal veneration of his work by the Church of Saint John Coltrane, but it is only one convenient means of Coltrane appreciation. In truth, his oeuvre is too vast and varied in scope to neatly sum up in any fully satisfying way. We might just as well start at the beginning, when Coltrane was a mostly unknown, but very hip, sideman, playing with the greats throughout the fifties. "From his Bird-emulating beginnings to his flights into the unknown in his last years," writes Fernando Ortiz, compiler of the "Complete" John Coltrane playlist above, "the standard of his music and his passion are always at the top or very close to it."

Comprising over 700 tracks, "or four straight days of listening," this playlist list is still "far from perfect," Ortiz admits, "since it is subject to availability and to the non-systematic approach to data on Spotify, but it's not that far this time."

...no studio recording he made between 1955 and 1965 is missing (his previous years are well represented, starting with his 1946 recordings while in the Navy), which includes all his studio work as a leader during those years, as well as all his recordings as a sideman with Miles and Monk.

The weighting toward live recordings, "both from official and bootleg sources," provides a very multifaceted view of the artist's onstage development, and the inclusion of box sets like Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings offer panoramic surveys of his studio work. While we don't get everything here, and some of the omissions are key, you will, if you spend quality time delving into this treasure house, understand why the name Coltrane conjures such intensity of awe, praise, and devotion.

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