John Coltrane - Blue Train (1958)

I never thought I'd watch a documentary that included interviews with subjects from such varied backgrounds as Dr. Cornel West, Common, and Bill Clinton, but the other day I watched Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, and there were all three men, speaking passionately and eloquently about Coltrane's music and life. It's a good doc and worth your time, regardless of the level of your current knowledge of Coltrane.

As one does, I followed the documentary with an evening of Coltrane's music, including A Love Supreme, Ballads, Coltrane Plays The Blues, then finishing with this 1958 offering.

This album is notable for a few reasons: 1) it is Coltrane's only recording as a leader on the Blue Note label, 2) the title track has become a jazz standard, and 3) it documents the progression and evolution of both Coltrane's playing and writing as he moved from his bebop background toward his greater, cutting-edge work in the 1960's (Giant Steps, Olé Coltrane, A Love Supreme). That said, I am in full agreement with the album review in High Fidelity which suggests 19-year-old trumpeter Lee Morgan steals the show here (although Kenny Drew tries to steal it from both of them at times).

Original liner notes by Robert Levin.

Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan - trumpet
Curtis Fuller - trombone
Kenny Drew - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums

Ratings/reviews:

• High Fidelity: "Coltrane's hard, fierce tone slashes through this disc like an urgent hack saw, but he is completely overshadowed by Lee Morgan's fantastic excursions on trumpet."
• Billboard: "A provocative item in the hard, modern idiom, most notable for tenorist Coltrane's arresting solo continuity."
• CashBox: "Fine individual and collective performances."
• HiFi & Music Review: "searching diligently for a new concept of tenor saxophone playing."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999) (★★★★★): "Coltrane may have made more important albums, but none swung as effectively as this."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000) (★★★½): "the unavoidable conclusion is that Blue Train is not an unalloyed masterpiece."

In 1987, this album was selected by Blue Note (Europe) as one of the 25 Best Albums on the label.

Update: In 2024, uDiscover Music ranked this album at #2 on its list of The 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: As I mentioned, the title track has become a standard. I also dig the swinging second track, Moment's Notice. Coltrane shines on the burning Locomotion and the sole ballad here, a take on the 1942 Kern-Mercer standard I'm Old Fashioned. This 2003 Rudy Van Gelder Edition contains two bonus tracks, alternate takes on Blue Train and Lazy Bird.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
A Love Supreme (1965)
Coltrane Plays The Blues (1962)