Customer Reviews

My Favorite Things [Deluxe Edition]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is John Coltrane's preeminent album. After finally leaving Miles' group for good, Trane's improvisation got progressively more frenetic, dissonant, and inspired. This combination sometimes makes his most brilliant and revolutionary recordings, like Giant Steps or A Love Supreme a bit challenging. My Favorite Things very clearly strikes a razor-thin balance between Trane's performance on Kind of Blue, and the later epics. Alternating between the tenor and soprano sax, Trane's best work is here, particularly on the title track (with McCoy Tyner laying out a supreme jazz waltz underneath), and on the aggressive, biting version of Summertime. If I find Trane's joint album with Johnny Hartman even more transcendent, that album is atypical for Coltrane; it gets its strength from Hartman, from an unusually subdued performance by Trane, and from their mutual synergy. My Favorite Things, on the other hand, is the archetypal Coltrane; the perfect way for initiates to wet their toes, and the backbone of a connoisseur's collection.

John Coltrane--the name conjures up one of the formative players in the hard-bop era, the long rapid-fire three notes on one chord line that blazed a path for jazz-yet-to-come. After my rock/jazz/blues class, Coltrane became the second name on my list of legendary jazz virtuosi to explore, the first of course being the incomparable Miles Davis.

The four tracks on the original 1961 release are all covers of well known tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Heyward and Gershwin, and both Gershwin brothers. The familiarity of these tunes was clearly geared to those hesitant to dip their toes into the post-bop jazz that was making its way felt following cool jazz, plus for those who may have been taken aback by his earlier effort Giant Steps. The title track should be familiar to Julie Andrews fans. It's best heard in its original 13:41 glory, where McCoy Tyner has a great piano solo with alternating chord changes and Coltrane's extended glorious downpour of quick sax notes, that three-on-one chord approach as described in the original liner notes, that draws the listener into the music.

In fact, the two bonus tracks, labelled Part 1 and Part 2, are bite-sized single versions of the original, divided in half. Part 1 starts at the beginning, with Tyner's piano, with Coltrane coming in, while Part 2 starts with Coltrane starting out the melody instantly. I'd pick Part 2 as a sample for the uninitiated, but me, I'll take the complete version any day.

The slower and melodic arrangement of Cole Porter's "Everytime We Say Goodbye" is highlighted again by Coltrane's soprano sax and Tyner's piano. It's magical with the wistful ambience.

"Summertime" from Porgy And Bess is an upbeat jam with those sheets of sound pouring out like there's no tomorrow. I'm reminded of the original lyrics: "an de livin' is easy/fish are jumpin'." Well, there's nothing easy here, and the only thing jumpin' are those sax notes and Tyner's piano solo in the middle of this jam. That's followed by a solo by bassist Steve Davis. Face it, even a master like Coltrane be tuned out if there wasn't a pause, and Davis fulfills that here, as does drummer Elvin Jones. Coltrane finishes up the last minutes of this jam.

The final jam is Gershwin's swinging "But Not For Me" highlighted in great part another winning and extended Tyner piano solo and Coltrane rounding out the last two minutes.

This deluxe edition has a foldout with two sleeves. One has the CD-style booklet with commentary and a duplication of liner notes. The other sleeve has the actual CD in a miniature of the original LP, complete with liner notes on the back.

The sleeve commentary by Nat Hentoff says that John Coltrane "spoke of self-purging through music--by which he could learn more and more about himself and thereby make himself and his music part of the unity of all being. Accordingly, he considered music to be a healing art." That really makes him a true philosopher among musicians. It has applications to all of us regardless, self-purging and healing with whatever enlightens or fulfills us.

A brilliant and exciting album that changed the face of the Jazz world. My Favorite Things is the gleaming Jewel in Coltrane's jazz crown. His take on the song "My favorite things" is Coltrane's signature. The whole recording is as fresh now as it was when it was recorded over 30 years ago. This is is Coltrane brilliantly communicating his musicianship with "color's of music" that is seldom accomplished by any musician let alone a jazz musician. ALL of the songs on this recording are vibrant and complex, simple yet have depth...A MUST have for all Jazz enthusiasts.

I agree generally that this is not Coltrane's best record (that honor would go to either "Giant Steps" or "Love Supreme". But the 13:41 song here "My Favorite Things" is the closest to a religious experience I have ever had listening to music. The first time I ever listened to it I was 12 years old and I couldn't sleep, it was around 1 in the morning and I threw on my headphones and grabbed something that looked "relaxing". I listened to the song about 3 times in a row and was astounded. Never before has an artist reached into the depths of his soul and his life in such a beautiful and perfect way. The last 4 minutes of this song feel like they are musical waves reaching through your body and elevating your spirit. Trust me folks, I never talk in such florid language but there is no other way I can describe it. Close your eyes, turn the volume all the way up

When I first heard the opening track on this album, I was intrigued. Since then, I've come to appreciate it as all of the following: fourteen minutes of distilled musical beatitude; a brilliant masterpiece; reliable casual listening; reliable shower listening; an aphrodisiac; the essence of my personality; my favorite single track of all time; proof that mankind is always stretching the boundaries that contain him. I simply cannot recommend this album enough. If you are human, if you have a passion for music, if you possess anything remotely close to good taste, you will savor it. Having now listened to it around two hundred times, I can say unflinchingly that this album has truly become one of "My Favorite Things."

I also was introduced into J. Coltranes music by this terrific album, which indeed is an excellent start for the new Jazz lover. My father gave me this record and when I listened to the magical title tune I was immediately captured by this modal jewel and on my way to become a passionate Coltrane/Tyner/Jones-addict. J. Coltrane using his soprano saxophone took a simple Rodgers/Hammerstein composition and supported by M.Tyner's most beautiful piano background turned it into pure gold. 'Everytime we say goodbye' also is a very nice ballad. This is a famous album which you won't forget and which can change your life, positively. Buy it today, for lifelong enjoyment. Thank You J.Coltrane, M.Tyner, E.Jones !!!

The only way I can describe "My Favorite Things" is by calling it 14 minutes of melodic ecstasy. After a beautifully simple intro by McCoy Tyner on piano, Coltrane takes this classic tune and turns it on the listener's ear. Coltrane interweaves standard licks with those of a different lollipop;only those licks that a true jazz enthusiast would appreciate. I am a person who appreciates brevity in one's message, but the lengthy tune Coltrane expels from his lungs and his heart could go on forever and never bore. We can't forget the rest of the album which entrances the listener. "Every Time We Say Goodbye" is a standard tune done many times, but I have yet to hear it done any more sweetly than John and his quartet. More soothing than the dentist's voice after a whiff of laughing gas, it makes me sentimental every time I hear it. "Summertime" is done in a more peppy style than normally heard, but that and "But Not For Me" round out this gem very nicely. A great starter for a Coltrane curiouso, and a wonderful addition to a seemingly unfinished jazz collector's puzzle.

"My Favorite Things" is a great introduction to Coltrane's music, although some might be scared of the 15 minute title track at first, you'll learn to love it and memorize it like I have. Coltrane is waking the dead with his soprano on that song. It's easily one the greatest sax solos of all time. This album would get 5 stars for that song alone, but the other songs are great too. "Everytime We Say Goodbye" is another great song with nice solos from Coltrane and McCoy Tyner on piano. "Summertime" is another crazy solo from Coltrane, and he wakes up even more dead with that one! And finally "But Not For Me," which is a great song to close the album.

It's not easy to review a release that has received, for 40 years now, the breadth of comment that this one has. It inspired reaction from the moment of its release, and as the number of reviews here reflect, it has continued to reach large numbers of fans. When you listen to "My Favorite Things" today, you realize that its power remains undiminished despite countless changes in musical styles, tastes and fads.

The calm that is at the eye of the quiet storm of the title piece is still striking. From pianist McCoy Tyner's opening chords, "MFT" establishes a hypnotic mood that is deepened by Coltrane's flawless and utterly relaxed work on the soprano sax. It's especially instructive for fans just discovering Trane to compare his performance here with later versions of the tune, which he reinvented continually until his death in 1967. There are some great versions, but none achieve the effortless flow of this one.

Best of all, Coltrane refused to be satisfied with one great performance on this album. In fact, "My Favorite Things" suffers no drop-off at all after the title cut. On "Summertime" he discards the operatic sweep of the tune to make it flat-out swing, and he keeps the mood jumping with a wonderful version of "But Not for Me" that shows off his ability to twist a tune inside out and sideways, seemingly wringing every improvisational note possible out of it.

Finally, Coltrane's superb balladry is happily on display here with "Everytime We Say Goodbye." Trane was never afraid to prove his mettle with a slow tempo, and he does it again here with a lyrical performance that provides just the right note of serenity to this perfectly balanced set.

Five stars probably isn't enough for "My Favorite Things," one of the best jazz albums of the '60s, or any other decade for that matter.

There should be warning labels on all of Coltrane's CDs because you can't go back to listening to Mariah Carey (if you do presently) afterward- I won't even get into anything else on the radio. Coltrane has said his raison detre came out of music's ability to change the thought patterns of people and to therefore change thier lives, and bring them closer to God. This is one of Coltrane's most successful attempts at doing just that, while simultaneously giving us an honest glimpse of his nature, his conscious, chosen and unconscious music/cultural influences (from New Orleans to Hindemith to Harlem to New Delhi) and his soul. And there is little that can be said about his trio that hasn't been said already; you just have to hear how they both compliment and humble themselves to the highest reaches of his musical mind. If you love the music of Rogers and Hammerstein, you will be changed by his "My Favorite Things"- yes, even if you have heard HIM do it four hundred thousand times.

His music, IS music.

Buy this.