John Coltrane – My Favorite Things (Rhino Reserve) (Quick Ship)

John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” marks the moment he fully stepped into the possibilities of modal jazz, and this Rhino Reserve edition gives that leap the audiophile treatment it deserves. Recorded in 1960, it’s the first album where Coltrane puts the soprano saxophone at the center, turning a Broadway waltz into a swirling, trance-like exploration that feels both familiar and completely transformed. Across the title track and the rest of the set, you can hear a band stretching time and harmony without losing grip on melody. McCoy Tyner’s piano patterns, Steve Davis’s grounded bass, and Elvin Jones’s rolling drums create a tide that Coltrane surfs rather than rides. Standards like “Summertime” and “But Not for Me” are stripped to their essentials, then rebuilt as open, breathing soundscapes. This Rhino Reserve pressing is aimed at listeners who care about hearing into the music—the air around the cymbals, the grain of Coltrane’s tone, the subtle shifts in dynamics that often get lost on lesser editions. If you’re building a serious jazz shelf, this isn’t background music; it’s a landmark document of an artist reimagining what a standard could be, and what a quartet could do.