Ole Coltrane (Dlx) [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import]

John Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1962
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Rhino/Wea UK
• ASIN: B00004WK0U
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Recorded in May 1961, Olé was Coltrane's final recording for Atlantic before moving to Impulse!, and it catches him in a significant transition period. Coltrane had begun playing regularly with multi-reedist Eric Dolphy and they were often working together in expanded formats, like the big band of the contemporaneous Africa/Brass and the varying groups that would create the extraordinary 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. Here he has Dolphy on alto and flute, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Art Davis on bowed bass supplementing the usual quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones, emphasizing polyrhythms and dronelike tonal centers. Dolphy was Coltrane's only equal in sheer saxophone technique and exploratory intensity--however different their approaches--and many of their recordings together have an incandescent power.

On these studio recordings, there's an emphasis on tonal color, too, with Dolphy's flute a significant shift. Among trumpeters of the period, Hubbard came closest to matching the new facility of line achieved by the saxophonists. There's a welling power on the 18-minute, Spanish-tinged title track, a direct extension of Coltrane's modal work with Miles Davis and one of his geographical explorations of the period, like "Africa," "India," and "Brazilia." At its core is a throbbing, pulsing, sustained segment between Tyner, Jones, and the two bassists that evolves organically from piano to bowed-bass lead before Coltrane enters on soprano for a brilliant concluding solo. "Dahomey Dance" shifts the rhythmic focus to Africa with full-strength alto and tenor solos, but there are airier textures here as well, in "Aisha," a luminous ballad by McCoy Tyner that's graced by Coltrane's lyrical tenor, and "To Her Ladyship." The recording is a landmark in Coltrane's evolving group concept, and contains work of genuine power and beauty. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Only for the Title Cut, December 22, 2000

By 

Stephen (Virginia Beach, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ole Coltrane (Dlx) (Audio CD)

Ole is possible my favorite single track by Coltrane. Dolphy and Trane are magnificent and the basses are awesome. At 18 minutes, this was the first time (for me anyway) that Trane suspended time and space. He would manage to send his listeners into a trance many times in the future. The remaining tracks are not one the level of the title cut, but perhaps its unfair to judge them that way, after the heights reached on Ole, just about anything else would be a bit of a let down.

Note: I noticed on Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orch album, one theme in a medley of Spanish protest songs sounds alot like Ole. Also, Check out Pharoah Sanders' equally awesome version of Ole on his Heart is a Melody CD.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overlooked masterpiece, November 20, 2000

By 

"jazzfanmn" (St Cloud, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ole Coltrane (Dlx) (Audio CD)

The opening flamenco flavored bass lick of the title cut, "Ole" sets the stage for this haunting minor keyed masterpiece. Coltrane's mournful opening on the soprano gives way to a crisp ghostly Eric Dolphy flute vamp that fades into a brassy upper register exploration by Freddie Hubbard's trumpet. All the while McCoy Tyner's block chords weave hypnotically thru the piece, working his solo to a fevered climax. Elvin Jone's pulsing drumwork combine with Tyner's near silent chording to dramatically underscore Art Davis' and Reggie Workman's otherworldly, writhing, twisting plucked and bowed dual bass solo which at one point sounds as if they are literally tearing away high notes never before played on the instrument. The work is capped by a Coltrane soprano solo that floats in like a thunderhead and builds into a frenzied howling, squealing climax, fading back to the mournful theme colored by dual staccato bowing and plucking from Davis' and Workman's ravished instruments. This is some of the most dramatic music of John Coltrane's career, and is easily the album's highpoint. This is acctually sayng quite a bit, because there are plenty inspired performances throughout this cd. For the next two tracks Coltrane sticks to tenor, showing his gentle ballad touch on "Aisha". "Dahomey Dance" has all of the soloists pushing each other to explosive heights, Dolphy's alto absolutely burns. The cd only bonus track "To Her Ladyship" is a tender number with thoughtful solos from Tyner, Hubbard, Dolphy's flute, and Coltrane who returns to soprano. Lost somewhere between "My Favorite Things" and his recordings for Impulse!, this album, Coltrane's last for Atlantic, is a classic it deserves more recogniton and is highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Overlooked Masterpiece, September 24, 2000

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ole Coltrane (Dlx) (Audio CD)

Of all the albums John Coltrane made for Atlantic in 1959-61, "Ole Coltrane" is the most often overlooked, yet it is one of his great early masterpieces. Joining 'Trane on this May 1961 session, his last on Atlantic, are Freddie Hubbard and Eric Dolphy on the frontline, both Reggie Workman and Art Davis on bass, and of course his mainstay Quartet partners McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Recorded between the two sessions that comprised the Impulse album "Africa/Brass," Coltrane was clearly interested in exploring his music in a larger ensemble format on "Ole" and at this point in his career.

While not as orchestrated as "Africa," "Ole" is an extended composition in the tradition of "My Favorite Things" that fully makes use of the addition of trumpet, flute and a second bass to the Quartet for a fuller, rounder sound. But while 'Trane plays soprano sax on "Ole," this composition is much starker, more haunting than any version of "My Favorite Things" could ever be. (Well, maybe not as dark as the "My Favorite Things" version on the 1966 4CD "Live In Japan" set.) 'Trane returns to tenor sax and Dolphy to alto sax for the next two tracks, a signature Coltrane modern post-bopper, "Dahomey Dnace," and McCoy Tyner's lovely ballad, "Aisha." The bonus track for this CD is "To Her Ladyship" (it was not on the original vinyl, but was included on the original CD issue). Released at one time as "Original Untitled Ballad," it finds 'Trane and Dolphy returning to soprano and flute respectively, as on "Ole."

This reissue has two improvements over the original CD issue -- better, brighter sound (the early Atlantic CDs, particularly the Mingus titles and Blakey with Monk, were some of the worst sounding discs) and a cool repackaging that features an original "mini-LP" sleeve for the disc. "Ole Coltrane" may be a transition album, but it is one of the greatest transitions of all time by one of the greatest musicians and groups of all time. Couple that with the fact that this is one of only a handful of recordings of Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, and it makes "Ole" an essential purchase.