Customer Reviews

Coltrane's Sound

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4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album is like many Coltrane albums palpably in transition between styles. It follows on from the experiments with dense, irregularly moving chord changes of _Giant Steps_, and also contains a couple reharmonized standards, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "Body and Soul", which have areas of sustained modal exploration in the manner of "My Favourite Things". The band is the first edition of the "classic" Coltrane band, with Steve Davis on bass before Jimmy Garrison hopped on board.

What's most unusual about this album, perhaps, is that it's actually Coltrane's meditation on the bop heritage. Only one tune is completely original, the lovely ballad "Central Park West" (one of my favourite Coltrane tracks; he only states the melody, leaving the improvisation to Tyner, but it's so rounded a statement that like Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie" it doesn't really need elaboration at all). The other tunes rework standard bop fare via the techniques of movement in thirds and pedal notes that obsessed Coltrane in this period. "Liberia" is a version of "A Night in Tunisia"; "Equinox" is a minor blues but borrows its intro from Parker's intro to "Star Eyes"; "Satellite" is a reworking of "How High the Moon"/"Ornithology"; "26-2" (a rather mysterious title) is a version of "Confirmation". The practice was of course already there on _Giant Steps_ ("Giant Steps" and "Countdown" are themselves based on standards like "Tune Up") but the concentration of such material, & the tenor sax shibboleth "Body and Soul", suggest a rather more self-conscious exploration of the tradition. (Note that Coltrane's albums otherwise rarely contain bop tunes, preferring to concentrate on pop standards when not playing originals.) The quartet's take on these tunes is dark, intense and brooding--this album is a long way from the sunny mood of _Giant Steps_ & _Coltrane Jazz_.

This disc is one of the most interesting of the Atlantics; don't be put off by the ghastly cover-art. This is music of a high order, a little less user-friendly than _My Favourite Things_ but no less important.

First of all - ignore any reviewer who claims this is not a choice Coltrane selection. I recently purchased the Lewis Porter biography "John Coltrane: His Life and His Music" Porter is the reigning Coltrane expert, he was invited to write the booklets for the Prestige box sets. Porter's book is full of praise for this release and there is even lots of musical analysis of Trane's solos.

I LOVE this release. I've been listening to Trane for over 30 years and have all of the Prestige, all of the Atlantic and most of the Impulse releases. My collection spans from his first outing as a leader up to his "difficult" Meditations. I also have EVERYTHING he recorded with Miles. I know the man's music. I'm a musician myself. Any reviewer (and there are a couple out here) that claims this is half-baked material doesn't know their CM7 from a C7#9 chord. It is an important part of the Coltrane legacy and essential listening. Reading Lewis Porter's excellent biography of Trane I learned that much of the material on this release was in Trane's original quartets book from their very first gig at the Jazz Gallery when Steve Khun and Pete La Rocca were in the band. This isn't just some half-baked release that Atlantic threw together to cash in like some other reviewers have asserted.

This release was culled from the very same October 24 - 26 1960 sessions that brought us My Favorite Things and Coltrane Plays the Blues. That session was the very first recording session of Trane's mainstay quartet in the 60's (only Steve Davis was replaced). This release was not made public until 1964 - long after Trane had left Atlantic, but that is in no way a statement on the music found here. There is nothing unusual in that, labels always store up sides in the vault for later release. Prestige did this with both Miles and Trane long after they'd moved on and their stars shone a bit brighter. It's strategic release planning.

If you enjoyed Favorite Things and Coltrane Plays the Blues, don't even give this a second thought, buy it. The intensity of the playing is similar - obviously since they were recorded during the same sessions.

I have been listening to Trane for over 32 years and I'm also a semi-pro jazz player myself (guitar) After several listens to Coltrane's Sound, I really do not understand why this release was not more popular. There isn't a weak track in the bunch and that includes the two bonus tracks 26-2 and the alt take of Body and Soul. 26-2 is interesting because Trane starts out playing his tenor but wraps things up on the soprano - something you'll find on the Complete Village Vanguard records but still, somewhat rare.

There's really not much more to say. Out of all the Atlantic Coltrane releases I own here is how they stack up as far as my preference. I'm not saying one release is better than another, it's just ordered by the my frequency of play and, if your listening habits are similar, encourage you to buy:


My Favorite Things
Coltrane Plays the Blues
Coltrane's Sound
Ole' (sometimes Ole' is #1)
Giant Steps
Bags & Trane
John Coltrane Jazz

While Giant Steps is simply amazing (understatement) I do have a preference for the work Trane did with McCoy and Elvin over the stuff with Wynton Kelly and Jimmy Cobb. Those two guys are perfect foils for Trane. Again, it's all very good, this is just my order of preference.

If you've heard the Pablo release "Afro Blue Impression" (Live in Europe) and like it then you will definitely love Coltrane's Sound.

Coltrane's Sound was recorded at the same October 1960 sessions as My Favorite Things. (Coltrane Plays the Blues also comes from these sessions.) Though it has never achieved the same popularity as MFT, in my opinion Coltrane's Sound is actually a better album! It comes from a period where Coltrane finally got a working band (McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones) together and was shifting direction away from the harmonic density of Giant Steps and "sheets of sound" toward modal improvisation and more open structures.

Coltrane was experimenting with a bunch of approaches around this time, making variety one of this album's strengths. He plays soprano saxophone on the beautiful ballad "Central Park West" (pretty rare for him -- he usually played ballads on the tenor). "Satellite" is a piano-less trio tune. "Night of a Thousand Eyes" and "Liberia" are explosive workouts which already showcase Coltrane's powerful tenor playing and his special relationship with Elvin Jones. "Equinox" has him digging deep, deep into the blues -- some of Coltrane's finest, most powerful blues playing this side of "Chasin' the Trane". Throughout this album, his playing is overflowing with ideas.

The Atlantic recordings contain some of John Coltrane's best, most accessible, and most focused music. If you've already heard Giant Steps and My Favorite Things (or if you haven't), don't hesitate to pick up Coltrane's Sound.

[This review is based on the Deluxe edition, now out of print. The tracklists are identical.]

COLTRANE'S SOUND was John Coltrane's last album on Atlantic before the move to Impulse! that would inaugurate his experimental period. Recorded in October 1960 at the same sessions as for MY FAVORITE THINGS, it sees the saxophonist joined by Steve Davis on bass, Elvin Jones on drums and McCoy Tyner on piano. These are mostly Coltrane compositions with the exception of "The Night has a Thousand Eyes" and "Body and Soul".

The music here often feels centered around Coltrane's technique, his ability to play blazingly fast seemingly without any effort, as opposed to the sense of proportion and balance. That's especially true of the opening track and "Satellite". In that regard I think of it as an "early Coltrane" release as opposed to the following albums which I love so much. Nonetheless, Coltrane's great quartet was almost complete (soon Davis would be replaced by Jimmy Garrison) and the rapport between the musicians is stronger than ever before. "Central Park West" is a ballad that displays -- even better than the cuts on Coltrane's BALLADS album -- that the saxophonist was capable of slowing things down. "Liberia" has a fine sense of whimsy and humor to it that, for all their metaphysical revelations, is missing from the intense later albums. "Equinox" is the most exploratory of the tracks here, looking forward to the Impulse! years.

In building a Coltrane collection, I jumped from GIANT STEPS all the way to the Impulse! albums and was so in love with the latter that I long neglected to fill in the missing years. I'm happy I did. Among these albums, COLTRANE'S SOUND is a fine effort that shouldn't be overlooked, and I like that it shows the saxophonist reflecting on the mainstream jazz trends of the time before he went entirely his own way.

More stellar cuts from a truly inspired session Coltrane held in October of 1960 was perhaps overshadowed by counterpart MFT, though the quality on both nearly remain interchangeable...not quite up to anointed levels of his most provocative quartet days, but injecting a fresh edge into structural predictabilities so as to render them new once again.

The Recording "Coltrane's Sound" was received in new product condition. The music is timeless wonderful! Nothing short of amazing and the kind of playing that has inspired me to enjoy the past-time of my dreams.

This album changed my life.

The entire band play from their hearts and the sound of the recording is beautiful. Coltrane sounds as fresh as ever and is still miles ahead (haha) today.

Every track on the album is a classic.
I own many many Coltrane albums and i would put this as my favourite and one of my favourite albums of all time along with john scofield trio 'enroute' and kenny garett's 'pursuance' among a plethora of others..

This recording was released in 1960 and that was a major year for John. He released "My Favorite Things" the same year, where he introduced modal improvisation, exotic scales and extended jams. That was his first major avant-garde jazz record, but the journey starts on Coltrane's Sound. Before Coltrane's Sound, John had established himself as the greatest hard bop tenor saxophonist in the world (along with Sonny Rollins), but at some point he got interested in more sophistication and experimentation. Coltrane's Sound is the perfect mix of ballads, hard bop and modal jazz. His 'free jazz' approach had yet to be invented, but some of his runs and especially McCoy Tyner's chordal progressions hints that he is an mood for a change..

This album is the perfect rebuttal to the folks who think Trane was harsh and unmusical; it contains some of his loveliest playing. "Body and Soul" is one of his best treatments of standard ballads, giving an already first-rate song added depth with his somber, dry tone.

"Equinox" is on the short list for songs to play at my funeral (along with Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments"). This also has one of my favorite McCoy Tyner solos.

True, the cover art is dreadful, but it's easier to fix that with a CD than with the album I bought in, oh, 1962. I've been listening to it ever since and never get tired of it. Trust us (everyone else is a five-star reviewer, too): click on that order button now. This is essential.

Some are put off by this minor mode Coltrane effort. That's there problem as this was one of his most outstanding outings. There is no "clash and burn" here, even by Elvin Jones. It's just wonderful, tight playing. Equinox probably says it all.