John Coltrane: Slow Trane to Philly
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Approaching the Trane
If you' re hesitating about buying that John Coltrane CD , don't fret. I know most people think, Trane only played hard-edged outside and Avant Garde compositions, not true. There's a vast array of compositions by Coltrane that are ballads, or slow bluesy medium tempo cuts that's very approachable. I'm not talking to the advanced listeners or, the hip jazzyphiles out there.Let me introduce some cuts you will want to listen to anytime, at home or in the car, with or, without libations. First You must go out and purchase John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman. this is an essential for all Trane collectors ,or jazz lovers in general. My favorite cut is the whole album.
There's no filler,trash or,sub-standard music anywhere on this record. First you have the John Coltrane Quartet, with all their splendor in top form.McCoy Tyner,Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones and Coltrane. From note one of every cut, you know that the person singing knows exactly what they are doing. Johnny Hartman, a crooner hold-over from the 40s big band era, like Mr. B (Billy Eckstine), King Pleasure,etc.was selected to join John Coltrane on that 1963 Impulse recording . Lush Life, Dedicated to You, You are Too Beautiful, My One and Only Love, and the "sleeper", Autumn Serenade. Hartman Make all of these songs his own, as if the writers were peering into his life before they wrote these songs. The quartet just wrap themselves around the tunes like gloves. Trane's Horn is almost another singer on the date.
John Coltrane- Ballads - Impulse Records
Two cuts from this album are lovely standouts.Whats New,and Easy to Remember. Coltrane take the melody and harmony of these standards and bend them around his very "voice like" tone, and sends the listener to a very serene and happy place.
John Coltrane Plays The Blues - Atlantic Records These 1960 recording sessions spawn My Favorite Things, Coltrane Sounds and Coltrane Plays the Blues. Don;t be thrown off by the word,Blues.These cuts are not your typical blues formula, but a "searching soul, by 1960 had lived the blues life, and knew how to tell a story in a modal sense and free.Its very approachable for new listeners, or advanced jazz buffs. Look for this ballad off the Coltrane Sounds record - Central Park West and My Favorite Things record - It is considered by many jazz critics and listeners to be a highly significant and historic record, spearheaded by the Rogers/Hammerstein title track. The ballad included on this album;Cole Porter's Everytime We Say Goodbye.
John Coltrane, tenor and soprano saxophone
McCoy Tyner, piano
Steve Davis, bass
Elvin Jones, drums
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Trane was one of a kind and a true great. Love his work.
Thanks for sharing
Love and peace
Tony
Please don't forget the Prestige sessions. These gems have often been overlooked for no apparent reason, and are appropriate to mention in this context. Check out the CDs "Soultrane," "Standard Coltrane," or "Lush Life," all of which show Trane at his late-50s apex: slamming hard-bop and wonderful ballads.
"Ballads" is a good choice for introductory Trane. It's been years since I heard it, but I remember he was playing it pretty straight here. One song -- I think "All Or Nothing At All" is done with a slightly Arabic feeling, and gives the listener a hint of "wait, there's more." My first Coltrane album was "My Favorite Things," which belongs in every starter set.
Great insight and good starting points for getting into a Jazz giants catalog.
Early 1950s Bop City Jam- San Francisco
Mr blues 2 jazz Hub Author 2 years ago
This hub will not focus on the "cliche" yarn usually written about Coltrane,but his prowess as a balladeer.His ability to own the song's melody and interpret the lyric as a singer would do.