Customer Reviews

Coltrane Time

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the famous recording that features the two giants of jazz John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor. It also has Kenny Dorham, who I understand wasn't too shy at expressing badvibes on the fact that Cecil was on the recording. Rounding out the date is Chuck Israels on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. They do two standards, plus a blues by Kenny Dorham and another by Chuck Israels.

Some people will no doubt think Cecil wanders too much harmonically, but I think that the music here ultimately succeeds because Israels maintains a strong time feel, focuses on the roots of the chords and generally doesn't follow Cecil's harmonic excursions (as Charlie Haden might have). Therefore, the music holds firm in its forward moving drive. I think it works better than Coltrane and Cherry's Avant Garde recording.

The thing is, Cecil is a beautiful comper rhythmically, the way he latches on some rhythmic element of the soloist and takes off with it.... being supported the way he is by the rest of the rhythm section, that is where the balance lies. In fact, on this recording, I think his comping is more interesting than his soloing.

And KD, badvibes and all, is at his most potent. Oh, and yes, the tenor playeer also sounds good.

The first time I heard this record (a «blowing session» conceived with the aim of presenting Cecil Taylor in an unusal setting), it left me puzzled; it seemed like Taylor (whose «scholar and intellectual» training is always overstressed, as if it was a good and sufficient explanation for his radical approach to music) was playing in another musical realm than the others - being so free he just didn't care. But rapidly it occured to me that yes, there is some kind of irritating heterogenity in the band's playing, but that Jones, Garrison and Taylor sound right at ease together - working on something good. The trouble is : whenever Coltrane comes along, he sounds square, like he is playing on his own, and so straightforwardly the word boring comes to mind. It seems an unusual thing to say about a session leader, especially if he's one of the greatest musicians in jazz. It becomes just a bit less disappointing when one realizes this album was originally issued has a Cecil Taylor title. Mildy interesting to the Coltrane fan.

A unique session, this one features a very unmatchmable frontline of players, at least at a first impression: a bopper, an abstractionist and TRANE (there aren't adjectives for him...). The disc, however, is an unforgettable one and highlights incredible solos of all of the jazzmen. Despite the characteristic playing of each one here, there is great interaction, and the quintet sounds like everything Coltrane did in his life: perfect and timeless.

The title is misleading for its actually a Cecil Taylor date (described in the liner notes). Eerie piano throughout...reminiscent of a muddy riverbed drying in January. Kenny Dorham is in fine form, takes a special solo on the first track (his own tune). Coltrane seems tame at times but fullfills all obligations sparring with Taylor...shadow boxing each others shadows rather. A strange inspired record.

I once asked about this album when it was out of print and I got laughed at. Marked by an out of tune piano and some very laid back (behind the time, but not dragging) solos, it could be considered dissonant, but what great players - they know what they sound like and they use it - to create a very unique melodic sound. Just friends would be my favorite. A unique combination of artists and a unique emotional experience.

once you've been bitten by the coltrane bug, you will most likely be compelled to search out every recording that he is to be heard on. it's a sickness, but a good one. this album gets lots of mixed reviews, here on amzazon, as well in jazz books. well, i like it just fine. sure there's better coltrane out there. so feel free to take some time getting around to this album. but once you do, i think you will find it a quite likable jazz set. my cd has the blue note label on it (blue note issued it in 1962 under coltrane's name), but this was originally a united artists release from 1959, under cecil taylor's name. it was then called "stereo drive." i can see why cecil taylor fans might not get all hot and bothered over this album. i have heard better, more inventive playing from mr taylor. but coltrane's performance is very worthwhile, as is kenny dorham's trumpet playing. the rhythm section of chuck isreals (bass) and louis hayes (drums) perform very well, too. so all you coltrane maniacs out there, don't shy away from this disc.

This was Kenny Dorham's sole 5tet date with Coltrane, and he was inspired. No way complications with the pianist were going to get in the way of this unique session. KD didn't like "free" players, but it would be absurd to suggest that Cecil Taylor's "outside" harmonies would be any problem for him. Dorham made no claims as a virtuoso, but was unequivocal concerning his strong point: harmony. He felt he could deal with any harmony, whatever the changes; witness his work alongside Eric Dolphy on Andrew Hill's "Point of Departure".

Louis Hayes and Chuck Israels give superb support and linkage. We find Coltrane working with the figures that would soon provide the climax of this period, with a few dates with Miles yet to come, before the quartet and My Favorite Things.

basically, a crummy album. Taylor seems to be playing in some catatonic state, perhaps in an effort to give Coltrane more room. However, the astonishing individuality one associates with these two masters is strangely absent as neither seems willing to take any chances. Kenny Dorham comes out looking the best in this set. The second and third tracks are virtually identical adding to the banality of this strange session. great Francis Wolff cover shot of trane though.

Being a huge Kenny Dorham and Coltrane fan, I was so excited when I discovered this album for the first time but when I looked at the personnel, I was shocked to see Cecil Taylor on piano. My fears of Cecil Taylor's non-melodic, atonal, harmonically BS meanderings ruining this potentially classic hardbop session were definitely confirmed when I first gave this album a listen--if I had to rate this album based on the piano playing alone, it wouldn't even get one star. However, this session is more than redeemed by some of the finest KD solos on record anywhere! His solo on "Like Someone In Love" alone is worth the price of admission--he is absolutely on fire on that take, a veritable masterclass on how to make the tritone substitution sound sublimely melodic (my all-time favorite KD solo). This album is definitely in the ranks of "Showboat," "Whistle Stop," and "Quiet Kenny" for some of KD's best playing on record. Trane is his usual consistent late-50's self on every take as well although he seems a bit hindered by the jive-ass piano comping he had to deal with. Chuck Israels and Louis Hayes are definitely swinging their tails off as well. If you're a musician you're probably going to hate every note that Cecil Taylor plays on here but as I mentioned before, KD and Trane's great blowing more than makes up for it. If you're a trumpet player or just a KD fan this is a must have session!!!!!

When I first bought this album for 39 cents at a Goodwill store in Miami it was titled "Hard-Driving Jazz" by the Cecil Taylor Quintet. ("Stereo Drive" is, of course, the stereo version of the same LP.)This vinyl version had it all over this CD reissue under Coltrane's name by virtue of sequencing. On the original vinyl, Double Clutching was the first track, followed by Like Someone in Love (a masterpiece), Shifting Down and Just Friends. I think this song order works better than the sequencing on this CD. Starting off with the slowest track (Shifting Down) is a drag.

A word about "Double Clutching": Wow! The delightful, refreshing counterpoint at the beginning conjures up visions of sunglass-adorned beatniks drinking espresso and slamming down leeche nuts while reading Kerouac in some flea-bitten coffee house in 50s Greenwich Village. Listen to it yourself: the coffeehouse ambiance all there, Jack. The counterpoint between Trane and Kenny Dorham is obviously written out, but it sounds spontaneous. Now a word about Kenny Dorham: this is the LEAST brassy tone I've ever heard from a trumpet. It sounds like his trumpet is made out of cardboard, the hard kind of corner braces that are used to pack a flat-screen or a laptop. There's no metal in his tone at all. But it's a distinctive sound, and I love his solo on this amazing track. Trane is also astonishing; in 1958 he had this smooth, buttery tone (you can hear it on Milestones also) that's in stark contrast to the hard, brittle sound he had with Miles in '56 and would return to with the Giant Steps LP a year or so later.

As far as Cecil Taylor is concerned: Who Dat? The cat doesn't really fit in here. But it's HIS date! Without him, no Coltrane Time.

4-a-half-stars, actually, if could give half-stars.