Customer Reviews

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (Reis) (Dig)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Indeed, the package is really cheap, with liner notes ridiculously small,
but since previously I had this album only on audio-tape, this CD is...
what can say? BEAUTIFUL...

Although, if you're a hard-core, late-Coltrane fan, you might find it a bit too low-key, but if you like Coltrane's album with Johnny Hartman, this is something for you... Also, Ellington fans will like this Coltrenisation of their favorite composer/pianist/arranger/bandleader...

I definitively come from more Ellington based pool (- Duke is the composer of most of the songs; one is by Strayhorn, one is by Coltrane -) and I LOVE THIS...
Lyrical, subtle, meditative, beautifully conceived and executed, logical collaboration of great artists.

Impulse has finally gotten it right in the mastering department!! These "originals" have amazing clarity and rival the best vinyl. BEG Impulse to remaster their Coltrane catalogue!

...yet not without occasional dark tones too, making it the absolute perfect mixture. Like other reviews said this is great music to pray to, but if you just wanna listen ta some classy stuff, maybe entertain a date with your musical sophistication, my suggestion is to burn this along with the 'John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman' album onto a CD then put it on random. Trust me. Its the most perfect mixture of instrumental jazz an' traditional ballads with a soft, velvet-voiced crooner that you can fit into an hour. Do it! Peace, y'all.

Coltrane and Ellington together make great music. Some of the best clean, clear jazz I have ever heard. This album came from the top 100 albums and I can see why.

I'll be brief. These are two of the giants of jazz, and the music they make together is sublime. If you like, and/or admire, either, or both, of these musicians, but this CD. I can't say enough about it. Buy it.

This is a fine John Coltrane performance in his lyrical 'My Favorite Things' mode, but 'Duke Ellington and John Coltrane' is distressingly lacking in Ellingtonian feeling considering that the Duke himself was sitting in the piano chair. There's only a couple of moments, particularly when he's playing within the comfort zone of his own rhythm section, that Ellington moves beyond minimum comping. Such moments come on the justifiably acclaimed performances here of "In a Sentimental Mood" and "My Little Black Book". Trane also has a showcase for his more intense style of playing on "Take the Coltrane". But the remainder of this brief album is wan and forgettable. If these two names weren't on the cover, I'd never give this more than a couple of listens. As it is, I've been coming back to this album repeatedly for 20 years now, and I am always struck by how merely pleasant it is. The cover art is strangely apt: two musical giants who, when together, don't quite fill up the space.

When I owned the LP of this it came with Ellington & Coleman Hawkins too--a wonderful set and a great bargain. I admit that there is muy poco music for the price. Too bad because what is there is interesting. They need to get real on CD prices-there's a reason sales are plummeting.

I've just received my copy of Ellington and Coltrane in the "Originals" collection, and feel disappointed.. Of course, the music is top shelf. BUT: The sound has only been slightly improved (I guess you have to be a wizard to improve Rudy Van Gelder's mediocre engineering), and moreover, the new digipack is really a cheap affair compared to the previous reissue from the 90's.. Bad cardboard, ridiculously small liner notes, low quality printing.. If you already own the 1995 reissue, just keep it: you really can live without this "brand new" version..

As anything Coltrane, this is great stuff. This CD is less than 35 min. and two of the selections are on the GENTLE SIDE OF COLTRANE. Most collectors probably will not care, because we want all the Trane we can get, but it does chop off almost 10 min. off this album. Call me cheap, but with the dwindling cd sales in this world, I want all the value I can get. Example, Concord Music Group is offering 2 fer's for one low price, check it out.