John Coltrane, Live In France, 1965 (Jazz Icons)
Television cameras captured Coltrane with his classic quartet months before it disbanded and he began the space-bound journey he was on when he died two years later. At the Juan-le Pins Jazz Festival in Antibes, Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones accomplished a concentration of passion even greater than that in their studio recordings of “Naima,†“Ascension,†“Impressions†and “A Love Supreme.†Much of the Antibes “A Love Supreme†video is lost, but the DVD’s nearly 13 minutes of the performance capture a level of intensity no other group of musicians is likely to equal. David Liebman’s liner notes are invaluable.