Chasing The Sheets of Sounds & Legacy of a Sax God: John Coltrane
- Shark
- Apr 27
- 25 min read
Updated: May 1
With Understanding Comes Appreciation
When newcomers and even more familiarized fans try to explore the catalog of our Sax God, John Coltrane, the task could turn overwhelming considering the number of records he released as leader, and the albums he played in as session musician with countless of top-notch luminaries on both studio and live —Duke Ellington Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner to name a few. Also, add to the equation the number of posthumous albums, compilations, unreleased material, outtakes, box sets and even bootlegs, and you could easily get lost in his endless sea of creativity. That’s why on this post I’m trying to assemble a guide of the Official Discography of John Coltrane to make it easier to dive into it, especially for fans who struggle on where to even start; but before continuing, let’s take a quick look at his life to appreciate his legacy better.
First things first. John Coltrane represents the ultimate in redemption and in complete surrender to music. Other than my Gods in Music there isn't another artist who comes even close to his musicianship, his dedication, and his supranatural ability to transform sound into a spiritual experience. After his spiritual revelation which led him to record A Love Supreme, there seemed to be no limit to his creative powers and desire to bring music into another dimension. His Classic Quartet with Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner is arguably the greatest combo in the history of jazz. The quantity and quality of his improvisations is without peer, as if his source for his unlimited creativity was something unearthly, divine.
A towering musical figure of the 20th century, saxophonist John Coltrane reset the parameters of jazz during his decade as a leader. At the outset, he was a vigorous practitioner of hard bop, gaining prominence as a sideman for Miles Davis before setting out as a leader in 1957, when he released Coltrane on Prestige and Blue Train on Blue Note. Coltrane quickly expanded his horizons, pioneering a technique critic Ira Gitler dubbed "sheets of sound," consisting of the saxophonist playing a flurry of notes on his tenor within the confines of a few chords. During his last days with Davis, along with his earliest records for Atlantic, Coltrane leaned into this technique, but as he developed his career as a leader in the early '60s, he also turned lyrical. His sweet, fluid soprano sax distinguished My Favorite Things, which helped turn the album into a standard upon its release in 1961, but Coltrane soon backed away from mainstream acceptance. Working with pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison —a band that would be labeled the "Classic Quartet"— Coltrane entered a fearless exploratory phase, explicitly incorporating his spiritual quest into his experimental music. A Love Supreme, an album released on Impulse! in 1965, marked the popular height of this period, but Coltrane continued to voyage to the outer edges of jazz in his final years, collaborating with Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders. Liver cancer ended his life prematurely: he died at the age of 40 in 1967, just ten years after his first LP as a leader —but Coltrane's legacy was so varied and rich, he remained the touchstone for creativity in jazz for decades after his passing.
Coltrane was the son of John R. Coltrane, a tailor and amateur musician, and Alice (Blair) Coltrane. Two months after his birth, his maternal grandfather, the Reverend William Blair, was promoted to presiding elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church and moved his family, including his infant grandson, to High Point, North Carolina, where Coltrane grew up. Shortly after he graduated from grammar school in 1939, his father, his grandparents, and his uncle died, leaving him to be raised in a family consisting of his mother, his aunt, and his cousin. His mother worked as a domestic to support the family. The same year, he joined a community band in which he played clarinet and E flat alto horn; he took up the alto saxophone in his high school band. During World War II, Coltrane's mother, aunt, and cousin moved north to New Jersey to seek work, leaving him with family friends; in 1943, when he graduated from high school, he too headed north, settling in Philadelphia. Eventually, the family was reunited there.
While taking jobs outside music, Coltrane briefly attended the Ornstein School of Music and studied at Granoff Studios. He also began playing in local clubs. In 1945, he was drafted into the navy and stationed in Hawaii. He never saw combat, but he continued to play music and, in fact, made his first recording with a quartet of other sailors on July 13, 1946. A performance of Tadd Dameron's "Hot House," it was released in 1993 on the Rhino Records anthology The Last Giant. Coltrane was discharged in the summer of 1946 and returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he began playing in the Joe Webb Band. In early 1947, he switched to the King Kolax Band. During the year, he switched from alto to tenor saxophone. One account claims that this was as the result of encountering alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and feeling the better-known musician had exhausted the possibilities on the instrument; another says that the switch occurred simply because Coltrane next joined a band led by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, who was an alto player, forcing Coltrane to play tenor. He moved on to Jimmy Heath's group in mid-1948, staying with the band, which evolved into the Howard McGhee All Stars until early 1949, when he returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he joined a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie, remaining until the spring of 1951, by which time the band had been trimmed to a septet. On March 1, 1951, he took his first solo on record during a performance of "We Love to Boogie" with Gillespie.
At some point during this period, Coltrane became a heroin addict, which made him more difficult to employ. He played with various bands, mostly around Philadelphia, during the early '50s, his next important job coming in the spring of 1954, when Johnny Hodges, temporarily out of the Duke Ellington band, hired him. But he was fired because of his addiction in September 1954. He returned to Philadelphia, where he was playing when he was hired by Miles Davis a year later. His association with Davis was the big break that finally established him as an important jazz musician. Davis, a former drug addict himself, had kicked his habit and gained recognition at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, resulting in a contract with Columbia Records and the opportunity to organize a permanent band, which, in addition to him and Coltrane, consisted of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer "Philly" Joe Jones. This unit immediately began to record extensively, not only because of the Columbia contract, but also because Davis had signed with the major label before fulfilling a deal with jazz independent Prestige Records that still had five albums to run. The trumpeter's Columbia debut, 'Round About Midnight, which he immediately commenced recording, did not appear until March 1957. The first fruits of his association with Coltrane came in April 1956 with the release of The New Miles Davis Quintet (aka Miles), recorded for Prestige on November 16, 1955. During 1956, in addition to his recordings for Columbia, Davis held two marathon sessions for Prestige to fulfill his obligation to the label, which released the material over a period of time under the titles Cookin' (1957), Relaxin' (1957), Workin' (1958), and Steamin' (1961).
Coltrane's association with Davis inaugurated a period when he began to frequently record as a sideman. Davis may have been trying to end his association with Prestige, but Coltrane began appearing on many of the label's sessions. After he became better known in the '60s, Prestige and other labels began to repackage this work under his name, as if he had been the leader, a process that has continued to the present day. (Prestige was acquired by Fantasy Records in 1972, and many of the recordings in which Coltrane participated have been reissued on Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics [OJC] imprint.)
Coltrane tried and failed to kick heroin in the summer of 1956, and in October, Davis fired him, though the trumpeter had relented and taken him back by the end of November. Early in 1957, Coltrane formally signed with Prestige as a solo artist, though he remained in the Davis band and also continued to record as a sideman for other labels. In April, Davis fired him again. This may have given him the impetus to finally kick his drug habit, and freed of the necessity of playing gigs with Davis, he began to record even more frequently. On May 31, 1957, he finally made his recording debut as a leader, putting together a pickup band consisting of trumpeter Johnny Splawn, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, pianists Mal Waldron and Red Garland (on different tracks), bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Al "Tootie" Heath. They cut an album Prestige simply titled Coltrane upon release in September 1957. (It has since been reissued under the title First Trane.)
In June 1957, Coltrane joined the Thelonious Monk Quartet, consisting of Monk on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Shadow Wilson on drums. During this period, he developed a technique of playing several notes at once, and his solos began to go on longer. In August, he recorded material belatedly released on the Prestige albums Lush Life (1960) and The Last Trane (1965), as well as the material for John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, released later in the year. (It was later reissued under the title Traneing In.) But Coltrane's second album to be recorded and released contemporaneously under his name alone was cut in September for Blue Note Records. This was Blue Train, featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Kenny Drew, and the Miles Davis rhythm section of Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones; it was released in December 1957. That month, Coltrane rejoined Davis, playing in what was now a sextet that also featured Cannonball Adderley. In January 1958, he led a recording session for Prestige that produced tracks later released on Lush Life, The Last Trane, and The Believer (1964). In February and March, he recorded Davis' album Milestones, released later in 1958. In between the sessions, he cut his third album to be released under his name alone, Soultrane, issued in September by Prestige. Also in March 1958, he cut tracks as a leader that would be released later on the Prestige collection Settin' the Pace (1961). In May, he again recorded for Prestige as a leader, though the results would not be heard until the release of Black Pearls in 1964.
Coltrane appeared as part of the Miles Davis group at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1958. The band's set was recorded and released in 1964 on an LP also featuring a performance by Thelonious Monk as Miles & Monk at Newport. In 1988, Columbia reissued the material on an album called Miles & Coltrane. The performance inspired a review in Down Beat, the leading jazz magazine, that was an early indication of the differing opinions on Coltrane that would be expressed throughout the rest of his career and long after his death. The review referred to his "angry tenor," which, it said, hampered the solidarity of the Davis band. The review led directly to an article published in the magazine on October 16, 1958, in which critic Ira Gitler defended the saxophonist and coined the much-repeated phrase "sheets of sound" to describe his playing.
Coltrane's next Prestige session as a leader occurred in July 1958 and resulted in tracks later released on the albums Standard Coltrane (1962), Stardust (1963), and Bahia (1965). All of these tracks were later compiled on a reissue called The Stardust Session. He did a final session for Prestige in December 1958, recording tracks later released on The Believer, Stardust, and Bahia. This completed his commitment to the label, and he signed to Atlantic Records, making his first recording for his new employers on January 15, 1959 with a session on which he was co-billed with vibes player Milt Jackson, though it did not appear until 1961 with the LP Bags and Trane. In March and April 1959, Coltrane participated with the Davis group on the album Kind of Blue. Released on August 17, 1959, this landmark album known for its "modal" playing (improvisations based on scales or "modes," rather than chords) became one of the best-selling and most-acclaimed recordings in the history of jazz.
By the end of 1959, Coltrane had recorded what would be his Atlantic debut, Giant Steps, released in early 1960. The album, consisting entirely of Coltrane compositions, in a sense marked his real debut as a leading jazz performer, even though the 33-year-old musician had released three previous solo albums and made numerous other recordings. His next Atlantic album, Coltrane Jazz, was mostly recorded in November and December 1959 and released in February 1961. In April 1960, he finally left the Davis band and formally launched his solo career, beginning an engagement at the Jazz Gallery in New York, accompanied by pianist Steve Kuhn (soon replaced by McCoy Tyner), bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Pete La Roca (later replaced by Billy Higgins and then Elvin Jones). During this period, he increasingly played soprano saxophone as well as tenor.
In October 1960, Coltrane recorded a series of sessions for Atlantic that would produce material for several albums, including a final track used on Coltrane Jazz and tunes used on My Favorite Things (March 1961), Coltrane Plays the Blues (July 1962), and Coltrane's Sound (June 1964). His soprano version of "My Favorite Things," from the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical The Sound of Music, would become a signature song for him. During the winter of 1960-1961, bassist Reggie Workman replaced Steve Davis in his band, and saxophone and flute player Eric Dolphy gradually became a member of the group.
In the wake of the commercial success of "My Favorite Things," Coltrane's star rose, and he was signed away from Atlantic as the flagship artist of the newly formed Impulse! Records label, an imprint of ABC-Paramount, though in May he cut a final album for Atlantic, Olé (February 1962). The following month, he completed his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass. By this time, his playing was frequently in a style alternately dubbed "avant-garde," "free," or "The New Thing." Like Ornette Coleman, he played seemingly formless, extended solos that some listeners found tremendously impressive, and others decried as noise. In November 1961, John Tynan, writing in Down Beat, referred to Coltrane's playing as "anti-jazz." That month, however, Coltrane recorded one of his most celebrated albums, Live at the Village Vanguard, an LP paced by the 16-minute improvisation "Chasin' the Trane."
Between April and June 1962, Coltrane cut his next Impulse! studio album, another release called simply Coltrane when it appeared later in the year. Working with producer Bob Thiele, he began to do extensive studio sessions, far more than Impulse! could profitably release at the time, especially with Prestige and Atlantic still putting out their own archival albums. But the material would serve the label well after the saxophonist's untimely death. Thiele acknowledged that Coltrane's next three Impulse! albums to be released, Ballads, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, and John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman (all 1963), were recorded at his behest to quiet the critics of Coltrane's more extreme playing. Impressions (1963), drawn from live and studio recordings made in 1962 and 1963, was a more representative effort, as was 1964's Live at Birdland, also a combination of live and studio tracks, despite its title. But Crescent, also released in 1964, seemed to find a middle ground between traditional and free playing, and was welcomed by critics. This trend was continued with 1965's A Love Supreme, one of Coltrane's best-loved albums, which earned him two Grammy nominations, for Jazz Composition and Performance, and became his biggest-selling record. Also during the year, Impulse! released the standards collection The John Coltrane Quartet Plays... and another album of "free" playing, Ascension, as well as New Thing at Newport, a live album consisting of one side by Coltrane and the other by Archie Shepp.
The year 1966 saw the release of the albums Kulu Se Mama and Meditations, Coltrane's last recordings to appear during his lifetime, though he had finished and approved release for his next album, Expression, the Friday before his death in July 1967. He died suddenly of liver cancer, entering the hospital on a Sunday and expiring in the early morning hours of the next day. He had left behind a considerable body of unreleased work that came out in subsequent years, including "Live" at the Village Vanguard Again! (1967), Om (1967), Cosmic Music (1968), Selflessness (1969), Transition (1969), Sun Ship (1971), Africa/Brass, Vol. 2 (1974), Interstellar Space (1974), and First Meditations (For Quartet) (1977), all on Impulse!
Compilations and releases of archival live recordings brought him a series of Grammy nominations, including Best Jazz Performance for the Atlantic album The Coltrane Legacy in 1970; Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for "Giant Steps" from the Atlantic album Alternate Takes in 1974; and Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Afro Blue Impressions in 1977. He won the 1981 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Bye Bye Blackbird, an album of recordings made live in Europe in 1962, and he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, 25 years after his death.
Even more previously unreleased material has surfaced since then, including the discovery of the Monk and Coltrane live concert At Carnegie Hall and a complete version of his 1966 Seattle concert, Offering: Live at Temple University. The saxophonist was also the subject of director John Scheinfeld's acclaimed 2017 film Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary. In 2018, Impulse! released Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, an archival release documenting a previously unheard session from 1963. The next year brought another unreleased album, Blue World, which dated from a June 1964 session recorded in between the sessions for Crescent and A Love Supreme.
Coltrane’s playing was defined by several key characteristics that pushed the boundaries of jazz harmony and improvisation:
Sheets of Sound: A signature technique featuring rapid-fire, legato scalar patterns and arpeggios that created a dense, continuous flow of notes.
Modal Jazz: Alongside Miles Davis, Coltrane pioneered this style, which relies on musical modes rather than complex chord changes, allowing for extended improvisation and a more mystical, open-ended sound.
Technical Virtuosity: Mastering the tenor and soprano saxophones, he demonstrated unparalleled speed and precision, often using the "Coltrane Matrix" to reharmonize songs using thirds instead of fifths.
Spiritual and Experimental Evolution: His later work embraced free jazz, atonality, and multi-tonal techniques like multiphonics. Albums like A Love Supreme reflected his deep Christian faith, while his final works explored avant-garde textures influenced by African, Indian, and Latin American musical traditions
John Coltrane is sometimes described as one of jazz's most influential musicians, and certainly there are other artists whose playing is heavily indebted to him. Perhaps more to the point, Coltrane is influential by example, inspiring musicians to experiment, take chances, and devote themselves to their craft. The controversy about his work has never died down, but partially as a result, his name lives on and his recordings continue to remain available and to be reissued frequently.
Having said that, the following guide considers only the official catalog and splits it in three main categories: Studio Albums, Live Albums and Appearances on other Artist’s Albums as session musician. I’m also presenting compilations, posthumous albums, EPs & singles. These categories are classified by record labels, and each album shows not only the released/recording date and personnel, but its availability for streaming on Apple Music. It’s worth to mention that all the catalog that is available for streaming is at the very least at lossless 44.1 kHz/16 bits (CD quality) and plenty at HI-RES. While most of Trane’s catalog is available for streaming, some albums are not, but its songs can be found on some compilations. When the latter is the case, I’m also sharing where you can find those songs in the Streaming column. In addition, I’m sharing the playlists of each category on Apple Music, so if you are more inclined toward a group of albums released by a label, or say a period of Trane’s career, you could add those playlists to your library and save time of assembling. I’m also sharing a playlist of the entire discography available for streaming on Apple Music if you want to shuffle his music and enjoy all his facets at once. Record Labels often are releasing new material, so stay tuned and subscribe to my blog because I’ll be updating the guide.
Also, if you find an error or inexact data/info, let me know, I will really appreciate it to improve this publication.
Hopefully this artisanal & state-of-the-art work is of your liking. Music is the best. Enjoy it!
Milestones.
1,800+ songs
200+ albums
30+ GB of music stored
10 days of continuous music
Updated 04.2026
Studio Albums
Prestige Records studio album
List of albums released with John Coltrane under contract
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1957 | Coltrane (reissued as The First Trane!) | Johnnie Splawn, Sahib Shihab, Red Garland, Mal Waldron, Paul Chambers, Albert "Tootie" Heath | 1957-05-31 | Yes |
1958 | Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor | 1957-08-23 | No Slow Dance, You Leave Me Breathless on Plays For Lovers. Soft Lights and Sweet Music on BD Music Presents John Coltrane Bass Blues on Jazz Showcase Tranening In on Prestige Profiles - Miles Davis (With Collector's Edition Bonus Disc) | |
1958 | Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor | 1958-02-07 | Yes |
List of albums assembled after John Coltrane's contract expired
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1959 | Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette (co-leader) | Paul Quinichette (co-leader), Mal Waldron, Julian Euell, Ed Thigpen | 1957-05-17 | Yes |
1959 | 1957-04-18 | Yes | ||
1961-01 | Earl May, Art Taylor, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, Louis Hayes, Albert "Tootie" Heath | 1957-05-31, 1957-08-16, 1958-01-10 | Yes | |
1961-12 | Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor | 1958-03-26 | Yes | |
1962 | Wilbur Harden, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb | 1958-07-11 | No. Tracks on Fearless Leader | |
1963-05 | Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane (co-leader) | Kenny Burrell (co-leader), Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb | 1958-03-07 | No Tracks on Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings |
1963 | Wilbur Harden, Freddie Hubbard, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Art Taylor | 1958-07-11, 1958-12-26 | No Tracks on Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings | |
1963 | Cecil Payne, Pepper Adams, Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins, Art Taylor | 1957-04-20 | No Tracks on Interplay | |
1964-04-20 | Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Louis Hayes, Art Taylor, Gil Coggins, Ray Draper, Spanky DeBrest, Larry Ritchie | 1957-12-20, 1958-01-10, 1958-12-26 | Yes | |
1964-08 | Donald Byrd, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor | 1958-05-23 | Yes | |
1965-05 | Wilbur Harden, Freddie Hubbard, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb | 1958-07-11, 1958-12-26 | Yes | |
1966 | Donald Byrd, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Earl May, Louis Hayes, Art Taylor | 1957-08-16, 1958-01-10, 1958-03-26 | Yes |
Blue Note Records studio album
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1958 | Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones | 1957-09-15 | Yes |
Savoy Records studio albums
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1958 | Tanganyika Strut (co-leader) | Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Curtis Fuller, Tommy Flanagan, Howard Williams, Alvin Jackson, Art Taylor | 1958-05-13, 1958-06-24 | No Tracks on Timeless: John Coltrane Jazz from New York, Vol. 1 |
1958 | Jazz Way Out (co-leader) | Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Curtis Fuller, Tommy Flanagan, Alvin Jackson, Art Taylor | 1958-06-24 | Yes |
1976 | Countdown (Originally released as Wilbur Harden's album Mainstream 1958 in 1958) | Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Louis Hayes | 1958-03-13 | Yes |
Atlantic Records studio albums
List of albums released with John Coltrane under contract
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1960-02 | Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Cedar Walton, Lex Humphries | 1959-05-04, 1959-05-05, 1959-12-02 | Yes | |
1961-02 | Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones | 1959-03-26, 1959-11-24, 1959-12-02, 1960-10-21 | Yes | |
1961-03 | McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones | 1960-10-21, 1960-10-24, 1960-10-26 | Yes | |
1961-11 | Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Art Davis, Elvin Jones | 1961-05-25 | Yes |
List of albums released after John Coltrane's contract expired
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1962-07 | McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones | 1960-10-24 | Yes | |
1964-06 | McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones | 1960-10-24, 1960-10-26 | Yes | |
1966 | The Avant-Garde (co-leader) | Don Cherry (co-leader), Charlie Haden, Percy Heath, Ed Blackwell | 1960-06-28, 1960-07-08 | Yes |
Impulse! Records studio albums
List of albums assembled by John Coltrane
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1961-09 | Pat Patrick, Freddie Hubbard, Booker Little, Britt Woodman, Julian Priester, Charles Greenlee, Carl Bowman, Bill Barber, Garvin Bushell, Julius Watkins, Jim Buffington, Bob Northern, Donald Corrado, Robert Swisshelm, Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Art Davis, Elvin Jones | 1961-05-23, 1961-06-07 | Yes | |
1962-08 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1962-04-11, 1962-06-19, 1962-06-20, 1962-06-29 | Yes | |
1963-02 | Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (co-leader) | Duke Ellington (co-leader), Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Aaron Bell, Sam Woodyard | 1962-09-26 | Yes |
1963-03 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Reggie Workman (1961-12-21), Elvin Jones | 1961-12-21, 1962-09-18, 1962-11-13 | Yes | |
1963-07 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes (1963-04-29), Eric Dolphy, Reggie Workman (1961-11-05) | 1961-11-05, 1962-09-18, 1963-04-29 | Yes | |
1963-07 | John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (co-leader) | Johnny Hartman (co-leader), McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1963-03-07 | Yes |
1964-01-09 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1963-10-08, 1963-11-18 | Yes | |
1964-07 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1964-04-27, 1964-06-01 | Yes | |
1965-01 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1964-12-09 | Yes | |
1965-08 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison (1965-05-17), Art Davis (1965-02-18), Elvin Jones | 1965-02-18, 1965-05-17 | Yes | |
1966-02 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Marion Brown, Art Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, John Tchicai | 1965-06-28 | Yes | |
1966-09 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Rashied Ali | 1965-11-23 | Yes | |
1967-01 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Donald Rafael Garrett, Frank Butler, Juno Lewis | 1965-06-10, 1965-06-16, 1965-10-14 | Yes | |
1967-09 | Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali | 1967-02-15, 1967-03-07 | Yes |
List of posthumous John Coltrane albums
Recording date | Album | Personnel | Release date | Streaming |
1963-03-06 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 2018-06-29 | Yes | |
1964-06-24 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 2019-09-27 | Yes | |
1965-05-26, 1965-06-10 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1970-07-00 | Yes | |
1965-06-10, 1965-06-16 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1998-03-10 | Yes | |
1965-08-26 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1971 | Yes | |
1965-09-02 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1977 | Yes | |
1965-10-01 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Donald Garrett, Pharoah Sanders, Joe Brazil | 1968-01-00 | Yes | |
1963-07-07, 1965-10-14 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Donald Garrett, Roy Haynes, Frank Butler, Juno Lewis | 1969 | Yes | |
1967-02-15 | Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali | 1995-10-10 | Yes | |
1967-02-22 | Rashied Ali | 1974 | Yes | |
1966-02-02, 1968-01-29 | Cosmic Music (with Alice Coltrane) | Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, Ray Appleton, Ben Riley | 1968 | Yes |
1965-06-16, 1965-09-22, 1966-02-02 | Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, Ray Appleton, Charlie Haden, Joan Chapman, Elvin Jones, Oran Coltrane | 1972 | Yes |
Live Albums
Impulse! Records live albums
List of live albums with John Coltrane as main artist
Release date | Album | Personnel | Recording date | Streaming |
1962-03 | 1961-11-02, 1961-11-03 | Yes | ||
1965 | New Thing at Newport (split LP with Archie Shepp) | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones (John Coltrane's set) | 1965-07-02 | Yes |
1966-12 | Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, Emanuel Rahim | 1966-05-28 | Yes | |
1971 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Donald Garrett, Pharoah Sanders | 1965-09-30 | Yes | |
1973 | Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali | 1966-07-22 | Yes | |
1991 | Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali | 1966-07-11, 1966-07-22 | No | |
1993 | Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison, Roy Haynes | 1961-11-02, 1963-07-07 | Yes | |
1997-09-23 | Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Garvin Bushell, Ahmed Abdul-Malik | 1961-11-01-03, 1961-11-05 | Yes | |
2001-09-25 | Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, Algie DeWitt | 1967-04-23 | Yes | |
2005 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1965-03-26, 1965-05-07 | Yes | |
2007-07-03 | McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison, Roy Haynes (1963), Elvin Jones (1965) | 1963-07-07, 1965-07-02 | Yes | |
2014-09-23 | Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Johnson, Rashied Ali | 1966-11-11 | Yes | |
2021-10-22 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Donald Garrett, Pharoah Sanders, Carlos Ward | 1965-10-02 | Yes | |
2023-07-14 | Eric Dolphy, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Reggie Workman | 1961-08 | Yes |
Pablo Records live albums
Release date | Album | Personnel | Notes | Recording date | Streaming |
1977 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | Stockholm (first date); Berlin, Germany (second date) | 1963-10-22, 1963-11-02 | No Tracks on: Live Trane: The European Tours | |
1979 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 1962-11-17, 1963-11-0? | Yes | ||
1980 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | Stockholm, Sweden | 1963-10-22 | Yes | |
1981 | McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | Stockholm, Sweden | 1962-11-19 | Yes | |
2001 | Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones | 7-CD set of the above recordings, plus previously unissued tracks. | 1961-11-18 – 1963-11-04 | Yes |
Live albums released by miscellaneous labels
Release date | Recording date | Album / label | Personnel | Streaming |
1965 | 1964-2-23, 1965-4-2 | Creation / Blue Parrot | No | |
1974 | 1965-07-27, 1965-07-28 | Live in Paris / Charly | No | |
1978 | 1965-05-07 | Brazilia / Blue Parrot | No | |
1988 | 1965-07-27, 1965-07-28 | Live in Antibes / France's Concert | No | |
2009 | 1961-11-20 | The Complete Copenhagen Concert / Gambit | No | |
2009 | 1966-07-02 | Last Performance At Newport / FreeFactory | No | |
2015 | 1961-11-18–1961-11-23 | So Many Things: The European Tour 1961 / Acrobat | No | |
2024 | 1965-07-26 | A Love Supreme (6th International Jazz Festival Juan-Les-Pins, Antibes, France) / Charly | No | |
Appearances
With Miles Davis
Release date | Album | Label | Recording date | Streaming |
1956 | What is Jazz? (Leonard Bernstein instructional album) [1 track only : Sweet Sue, Just You] | 1956-09-10 | No Tracks on: The Complete Miles Davis Featuring John Coltrane | |
1956-04 | Prestige | 1955-11-16 | Yes | |
1957-03-04 | 1955-10-26, 1956-06-05, 1956-09-10 | Yes | ||
1957-07 | Prestige | 1956-10-26 | Yes | |
1958-03 | Prestige | 1956-05-11, 1956-10-26 | Yes | |
1958-09-02 | Columbia | 1958-02-04, 1958-03-04 | Yes | |
1959 | Legrand Jazz (Michel Legrand album) [4 tracks only] | Columbia | 1958-06-25 | Yes |
1959 | Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants [1 track only : 'Round Midnight] | Prestige | 1956-10-26 | No Track on Prestige Records: Chill Jazz Ballads |
1959 | Columbia | 1959-03-02, 1959-04-22 | Yes | |
1959 | Jazz Track [May 26, 1958 session only] | Columbia | 1958-05-26 | No |
1960-01 | Prestige | 1956-05-11, 1956-10-26 | Yes | |
1961-05 | Prestige | 1956-05-11, 1956-10-26 | Yes | |
1961-12-11 | Someday My Prince Will Come [2 tracks only : Someday my Prince Will Come, Teo] | Columbia | 1961-03-20, 1961-03-21 | Yes |
1964 | Columbia | 1958-07-03 | Yes | |
1973 | Columbia | 1958-09-09 | Yes | |
1973 | Basic Miles [2 unreleased tracks only : Little Melonae, Budo] | Columbia | 1955-10-27 | No Tracks on: The Complete Miles Davis Featuring John Coltrane |
1974 | 1958 Miles [May 26, 1958 session from Jazz Track with unreleased track Love for Sale, plus concert from Jazz at The Plaza Vol. 1] | Columbia | 1958-05-26, 1958-09-09 | Yes |
1979 | Circle in the Round [1 unreleased track only : Two bass hit] | Columbia | 1955-10-26 | Yes |
2005 | 'Round About Midnight CD reissue [8 unreleased tracks only from concert at the 1956 Pacific Jazz Festival in Pasadena] | Columbia | 1956-02-18 | Yes |
2013 | The Unissued Café Bohemia Broadcasts | Domino Records | 1956-09-15, 1956-09-29, 1957-04-13, 1958-05-17 | No |
2014 | All of You: The Last Tour 1960 [including Live in Stockholm, and at the Olympia in Paris] | Acrobat | 1960-03-22 – 1960-04-09 | Yes |
With Thelonious Monk
Year released | Album | Label | Recording date | Streaming |
1957 | 1957-06-26 | Yes | ||
1959 | 1957-04-16, 1957-06-25, 1957-06-26, 1957-07 | Yes | ||
1959 | Thelonious Himself ("Monk's Mood" only) | Riverside | 1957-04-16 | Yes |
1993 | Live at the Five Spot Discovery! | Late summer 1957 | Yes | |
2005 | Blue Note | 1957-11-29 | Only Blue Monk Track | |
2006 | Complete Live at the Five Spot 1958 | Gambit | 1958-09-11 | Yes |
Other appearances
List of albums and 78 rpm singles with John Coltrane as session musician
Release date | Album | Leader | Label | Recording date | Streaming |
1949 | "How Long, How Long / Beer Drinking Baby" (78 rpm disc) | Billy Valentine | 1949-11-07 | Only Beer Drinking Baby | |
1949 | "Ain't Gonna Cry No More / I Want You to Love Me" (78 rpm disc) | Billy Valentine | 1949-11-07 | No | |
1949 | "Say When / You Stole My Wife, You Horse Thief" (78 rpm disc) | 1949-11-21 | Yes | ||
1949 | "Tally Ho / I Can't Remember" (78 rpm disc) | 1949-11-21 | Only Tally Ho | ||
1950 | "Carambola / Honeysuckle Rose" (78 rpm disc) | 1950-01-09 | Yes | ||
1952 | "Easy Rockin' / G.C. Rock" | Gay Crosse | Republic | 1952 | Only G.C. Rock |
1952 | "No Better for You / Tired of Being Shoved Around" | Gay Crosse | Republic | 1952 | Yes |
1952 | "Fat Sam from Birmingham / Bittersweet" | Gay Crosse | Gotham | 1952-01-19 | Only Fat Sam from Birmingham |
1952 | 1952-08-15 | No | |||
1954 | 1954-08-05 | No Tracks on Three Classic Albums Plus | |||
1956 | Earl Bostic for You | 1952-04-07, 1952-08-15 | Partially on The EP Collection | ||
1956 | Dance Time | 1952-04-07, 1952-08-15 | No | ||
1956 | 1954-07-02, 1954-08-05 | Yes | |||
1956 | Jazz West | 1956-03-01 or 02 | Yes | ||
1956 | Jazz in Transition (sampler, one track only) | 1956-04-20 | Yes | ||
1956 | Informal Jazz (reissued as Two Tenors) | 1956-05-07 | Yes | ||
1956 | Tenor Madness (title track only) | 1956-05-24 | Yes | ||
1956-12-00 | 1956-09-21 | Yes | |||
1957 | No session leader | 1956-09-07 | Yes | ||
1957 | 1956-11-30 | Yes | |||
1957 | Taylor's Wailers (March 22, 1957 session only)[40] | 1957-03-22 | Yes | ||
1957 | The Prestige All Stars | 1957-03-22 | Yes | ||
1957 | 1957-04-06 | Yes | |||
1957 | 1957-04-19, 1957-05-17 | Yes | |||
1957 | Baritones and French Horns (reissued as Dakar) | 1957-04-20 | No | ||
1957 | Blues for Tomorrow (title track only) | Various Artists | 1957-06-26 | Yes | |
1957 | No session leader | 1957-10-00 | Yes | ||
1958 | 1957-09-01 | Yes | |||
1958 | The Prestige All Stars | 1957-09-20 | Yes | ||
1958 | 1957-11-15 | Yes | |||
1958 | 1957-12-20 | Yes | |||
1958 | 1957-12-00 | Yes | |||
1958 | 1958-01-03 | Yes | |||
1958 | 1958-01-03 | Yes | |||
1958 | 1958-03-15 | Yes | |||
1959 | No session leader | 1957-04-18 | Yes | ||
1959 | New York, N.Y. (one track only) | 1958-09-12 | Yes | ||
1959 | Stereo Drive or Hard Driving Jazz (reissued as Coltrane Time) | 1958-10-13 | Yes | ||
1959 | A Tuba Jazz (reissued as Like Sonny) | 1958-11-00 | No | ||
1959 | 1959-02-03 | Yes | |||
1960 | 1957-11-15 | Yes | |||
1961-07 | 1959-01-15 | Yes | |||
1962 | 1957-11-15, 1957-12-13 | Yes | |||
1962 | 1957-12-13 | Yes | |||
1964 | 1957-04-19, 1957-09-20 | No | |||
1964 | Four for Trane (as producer only) | 1964-08-10 | Yes |
Compilation albums
List of compilations and remix albums with John Coltrane as main artist
Release date | Compilation | Label | Streaming |
1962 | The Best of Birdland: Volume 1. (Side A only) | No | |
1966 | John Coltrane Plays for Lovers | Prestige | Yes |
1970 | The Best of John Coltrane: His Greatest Years | Impulse! | No |
1970-02-00 | Atlantic | No | |
1970-04-00 | Atlantic | Yes | |
1972 | The Best of John Coltrane: His Greatest Years, Vol. 2 | Impulse! | No |
1972 | More Lasting Than Bronze | Prestige | No |
1972 | Impulse! | Yes | |
1972 | Echoes of an Era (Side D only) | Roulette | No |
1973 | The Art of John Coltrane: The Atlantic Years | Atlantic | No |
1974 | The Best of John Coltrane: His Greatest Years, Vol. 3 | Impulse! | No |
1974 | Impulse! | No | |
1975 | The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane | Impulse! | No |
1975 | High Step (with Paul Chambers) | Blue Note | No |
1975 | The Stardust Session | Prestige | No |
1975-03 | Atlantic | Yes | |
1977 | Savoy | No | |
1977 | Savoy | No | |
1978 | Savoy | No | |
1978 | On a Misty Night | Prestige | No |
1978 | Impulse! | No | |
1978 | Impulse! | No | |
1978 | Impulse! | No | |
1979 | Impulse! | No | |
1980 | Coltrane/Dolphy | Carrere | Yes |
1992 | No | ||
1992 | No | ||
1993 | Impulse! | Yes | |
1995 | Atlantic | Yes | |
1998 | Prestige | No | |
1998 | Impulse! | Yes | |
1998-03-10 | Impulse! | Yes | |
1999-01-26 | Blue Note | Yes | |
1999-10-26 | Columbia | No | |
2000-02-15 | The Very Best of John Coltrane | Yes | |
2000-11-07 | Verve | Yes | |
2001-01-23 | Impulse! / Verve | Yes | |
2001-07-24 | The Very Best of John Coltrane | Impulse! | Yes |
2002-05-07 | Timeless | Savoy | Yes |
2005-10-25 | Prestige Profiles, Vol. 9: John Coltrane | Prestige | Yes |
2006-09-26 | Fearless Leader | Prestige | Yes |
2007-09-18 | Interplay | Prestige | Yes |
2008-06-09 | Opus Collection: A Man Called Trane | No | |
2009-10-06 | Side Steps | Prestige | Yes |
2012-06-12 | The Very Best of John Coltrane: The Prestige Era | Prestige | No |
2016-07-08 | The Atlantic Years in Mono | Rhino | Yes |
2018-11-16 | 1963: New Directions | Impulse! | Yes |
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