Dear John C.

Elvin Jones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Grp Records
• ASIN: B000003N6P
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,524 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Elvin Jones was nearing the end of his long stay with John Coltrane when he led these sessions in 1965, and while the style is small-group postbop the music is very different from the thick, teeming textures of the Coltrane quartet. The core band is a trio with the Charlie Parker-influenced alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano and the brilliant bassist Richard Davis, later a long-standing member of Jones's own bands. Davis and Jones are a stunning rhythm team, with reserves of power and majestic instrumental command, and the underrated Mariano soars overhead on a series of lyrical standards, including "Everything Happens to Me" and "This Love of Mine." Roland Hanna joins the group for the first three selections, and Elvin's brother, Hank for the last four. Of the Hanna tracks, Charles Mingus's "Love Bird" is particularly apt, with Mingus veterans Mariano and Hanna fired up by a bassist every bit as propulsive as the composer. Hank Jones's crisp and inventive lines shine on the classic bop of "Anthropology" and Ellington's "Fantazm." --Stuart Broomer

Product Description

Japanese only release. Universal. 2010. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unknown, unappreciated classic, May 16, 2004

By 

Jess Row (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dear John C. (Audio CD)

This album is a classic of mid-1960's jazz. Mariano, one of the great invisible talents of the era, plays at the top of his form, Hank Jones and Roland Hanna do priceless work on the piano, and the Richard Davis/Jones rhythm section keeps it loose and flowing throughout. "Everything Happens to Me" is a heartbreaking ballad, but every song is a near-perfect achievement. It's astonishing to me that this CD has gone out of print. I would rate it alongside Shorter's "Speak No Evil," Coltrane's "Live at Birdland," Andrew Hill's "Point of Departure," and so on--one of the ten or twenty masterpieces of a golden age in jazz.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dear John C,Elvin Jones., April 20, 2008

By 

J. France - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dear John C. (Audio CD)

Dating from Feb.1965,this is a quartet featuring Charlie Mariano on alto sax.,Richard Davis on bass,Roland Hanna on piano on tracks 1-3,Hank Jones playing piano on tracks 7-10,with Elvin Jones as leader on drums.Tracks include Dear John C,Ballade,Love Bird,Everything Happens To Me,Smoke Rings,This Love of Mine,Anthropology,Feeling Good,Fantazm and That Five Four Bag,the last track being in addition to the vynil version.Mariano plays beautifully,likewise both pianists,Richard Davis is superb and very well recorded with Elvin playing with great taste and taking some nice solos.I,ve had this set on vynil for around 40 years and was fortunate to get a used CD in as new condition via Amazon.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This Dear John Letter Isn't All Bad News, August 13, 2000

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dear John C. (Audio CD)

You'll enjoy "Dear John C" as long as your not expecting another classic Coltrane Quartet-esque effort. The closest this CD comes to matching 'Trane is on the title track, which unfortunately steals most of its licks from "Impressions." Actually this album's strong point is its ballads (although they're not as good as 'Trane's "Ballads"), with "Ballade," "Smoke Ring" and "Feelin Good" the best. Another disappointment is that the potentially explosive rhythm combination of Richard Davis and Elvin basically keeps it on simmer for this recording. On one track, "This Love of Mine," Davis streches out and Jones cranks up the poly-rhythms, but otherwise they really keep it under control, playing more to match the bop styles of Mariano, Hanna, and brother Hank. In all, there's nothing terrible on "Dear John C.", but there's nothing to write home about either.