Between 1955 and 1959, with occasional changes in personnel, trumpeter
Miles Davis
led a simply extraordinary small band that changed the course of jazz.
This quintet/sextet primarily spotlighted tenor saxophonist
John Coltrane but also included such greats as alto saxophonist
Cannonball Adderley; pianists
Red Garland,
Bill Evans, and
Wynton Kelly; bassist
Paul Chambers; and drummers
Philly Joe Jones and
Jimmy Cobb.
The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane
comprise such fabled Davis albums as 'Round About Midnight,
Milestones, Jazz at the Plaza, Volume 1, Someday My Prince Will Come,
and the legendary Kind of Blue. Also included are the
Davis-with-Coltrane selections that appeared on Miles and Monk at
Newport, Jazz Track, Basic Miles, and Circle in the Round. In all, the
set boasts 60 tracks, of which 18 are previously unreleased--14 of them
complete takes.
Recorded on August 26, 1965 (and not released until after his death), Sun Ship was the final recording by John Coltrane's
quartet with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist
Jimmy Garrison. Pharoah Sanders would join the group the following
month, and Tyner and Jones would depart in January of 1966 to be
replaced by Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali. It is also one of the
saxophonist's most intense taped performances. After nearly four years
together, this band had achieved a vital collective identity. When
Coltrane moved toward metrically free styles of rhythm and melody (with
tunes often based on one chord or a short series of notes as themes),
the quartet's rhythmic pulse and collective interplay evolved
accordingly. The original album featured edited and sometimes overdubbed
performances of its four compositions. Sun Ship: The Complete Session
delivers both complete versions of the album's performances, but also
multiple takes of "Dearly Beloved," "Attaining," and the title track. 
