LOVE SUPREME COLLECTIVE Love Supreme Collective (Ropeadope)

It takes a courageous tenor player to reimagine John Coltrane’s 1965 masterpiece ALove Supreme. Frank Catalano’s attempt has its highs and lows, but a strict comparison to the original can only end in disappointment. Coltrane’s recording features his definitive quartet, with McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums), all titans of their individual instruments. That Catalano brings in guitarist Chris Poland for one song, “Psalm for John,” is an indication that the saxophonist approaches his tribute project nonstringently. More jarring is drummer Jimmy Chamberlin’s rhythmic work. Best known for playing with Smashing Pumpkins, Chamberlin was jazz-trained when young and cites Jones as an influence. There’s no clear reflection of this influence in his primarily straight-ahead, backbeat-heavy playing on the four tracks of this album (which share portions of their names but little else with their antecedents). Catalano is a highly accomplished and proficient musician. He strives with some success to match and occasionally quote Coltrane’s frenetic lines, but just as Chamberlin’s playing lacks swing, Catalano’s lacks space and breath. The long takes on Coltrane’s album (none of which run under seven minutes) mesmerize partly because each is incredibly turbulent — musically and emotionally. Clocking in at 21:58, a full 10 minutes shorter than its predecessor, Love Supreme Collective is static enough that it feels twice as long. — Loren Bienvenu