Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify. 

 In June of 1964, John Coltrane and his classic quartet went into Van Gelder Studios and, in an unprecedented move for the saxophonist, recorded new versions of some his most famous works. Earlier that year, a year in which he recorded “A Love Supreme” and “Crescent”, Coltrane was approached by Quebecois filmmaker Gilles Groulx. He was planning his film, “La Chat dans le Sac,” a love story set in Montreal. A die-hard Coltrane fan, Groulx was fixated on having Trane record a soundtrack for his film. He approached Coltrane via a personal connection with bassist Jimmy Garrison and, amazingly, Coltrane agreed. Groulx took the master back to Canada to use in his film and included just ten minutes of the 37-minutes of material. The entire recording, dubbed “Blue World,” has now been released for the very first time.

     NEA Jazz Master George Coleman has been involved with notable bands throughout his remarkable career. As a leader, he’s worked with such estimable players as Ray Drummond, Billy Higgins, Sam Jones and Bob Cranshaw. As a sideman, he’s wielded his powerful tenor alongside some of the music’s most legendary artists: Miles Davis, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus and Cedar Walton, among many others. On Coleman’s new CD, “The Quartet,” he features an ensemble that’s been sharing the bandstand for the better part of two decades. He’s joined by pianist Harold Mabern, with whom the 84-year-old master shared an almost lifelong relationship, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.

Also this week, trumpeter Wallace Roney, a protégé of Miles Davis, unveils his twenty-second disc as a leader, “Blue Dawn—Blue Nights”;

 Brazilian guitarist and composer Ricardo Peixoto features ten original pieces on his third CD as leader, “Scary Beautiful”;

and Grammy Award-winning keyboardist/composer Jeff Lorber enlists esteemed guitarist Mike Stern for the new Jeff Lorber Fusion project, “Eleven.”