A loving tribute to
John Coltrane co-led by percussionist guru
Bob Moses and out guitarist Tisziji Muñoz,
Love Everlasting creates a magnificent wall of sound in the spirit of
Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Far more than a tribute, the music on the disc -- which features a surprisingly restrained double-quartet lineup plus guitar -- brims with joy, frequently reaching into chaos, but never becoming violent or unlistenable. Each set of musicians -- saxophonists
George Garzone and
Jerry Bergonzi, keyboardists
Brad Hatfield and
John Medeski (who would go on to co-found
Medeski, Martin & Wood), bassists
John Lockwood and Wesley Wirth, and drummers
Moses and
Ben Wittman -- works like a platonic unit, each musician completing his partner's thoughts.
Bergonzi and
Garzone work particularly well together, citing passages from
Coltrane's own "Acknowledgment" (the first cut off A Love Supreme). Unfortunately, until his own "Earth Changes," Muñoz is all but buried in the mix. The disc closes with an elegant version of
Coltrane's "Naima," unfortunately dated by the hideous bed of synthesizers on which the melody rests. ~ Jesse Jarnow