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."

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)