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)

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (1965)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1995 reissue.

Generally regarded as "one of the most important records ever made" (AllMusic), I find myself listening to this iconic disc repeatedly as I try to understand what Coltrane was doing in this four part sermon/suite. In 1957, Coltrane had what he describes as a "spiritual awakening" that helped him battle his addictions to alcohol and heroin. This is a response to God, praising him and thanking him for His love, a love like no other, A Love Supreme. Try as I might, I don't think I currently have the acuity and capacity to understand this music. But I'll keep trying...

Coltrane - tenor saxophone
McCoy Tyner - piano
Jimmy Garrison - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

Original liner notes written by Coltrane.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "Coltrane, with God, plays excellent jazz"
• Downbeat (★★★★★): "thoroughly a work of art"
• Stereo Review: "a good record, one of the better ones Coltrane has made for Impulse."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★♛

Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked A Love Supreme at #66 and in 2017, it was ranked at #3 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

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

Tracks: Probably my favorite part of the album is McCoy Tyner's piano work on Part 2: Resolution.

Also recommended: Ashley Kahn's 2002 book, A Love Supreme: The Creation of John Coltrane's Classic Album. There's also a Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco. I definitely need to visit that place.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I'm reminded of the album's use in the Spike Lee movie, Mo' Better Blues. Rumor has it that Coltrane's widow, Alice, denied Spike Lee the use of the title "A Love Supreme" as that's what Lee wanted to call that movie.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Coltrane Plays The Blues (1962)

John Coltrane - Coltrane Plays The Blues (1962)

I realize the cool and hip Coltrane album to praise is A Love Supreme, but since I'm neither cool nor hip, I think I'll go out on a limb and claim this gem as my favorite Coltrane release. Recorded in its entirety on October 24, 1960, this album presents songs that don't always have a traditional blues structure (some are more modal than blues), but they all have a definite bluesy feel to them. And it all swings, thanks to the a great rhythm section including drummer Elvin Jones (yes, you read that right. I just complimented a drummer). These were recorded for Atlantic during the same sessions as My Favorite Things, but weren't released until two years later, when Coltrane had moved on to the Impulse! label. Since these cuts were already in the Atlantic vault, they released them without either Coltrane's input or approval. I don't know if Coltrane was upset at this, but I'm certainly not.

Coltrane - soprano and tenor saxophone
McCoy Tyner - piano
Steve Davis - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "One of Coltrane's most provocative albums to date"
• Stereo Review: "particularly absorbing"
• DownBeat: ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★

Tracks:  I'll gladly listen to them all without complaint.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  This CD has received steady play over the last 10-15 years, but was on very heavy rotation about 3 years ago, when I went through a heavy blues phase.