John Coltrane: Coltrane Plays The Blues (Atlantic Jazz Gallery) CD Track Listing

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John Coltrane Coltrane Plays The Blues (Atlantic Jazz Gallery) (1962)
Originally Released 1962\nRemastered Edition Released September 19, 2000\n\nReissue of 1962 Atlantic album, with six additional tracks. Great embossed\ndigipak and booklet.\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Coltrane's sessions for Atlantic in late October 1960 were prolific, yielding the material for My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays the Blues, and Coltrane's Sound. My Favorite Things was destined to be the most remembered and influential of these, and while Coltrane Plays the Blues is not as renowned or daring in material, it is still a powerful session. As for the phrase "plays the blues" in the title, that's not so much an indicator that the tunes are conventional blues (which they aren't). It's more indicative of a bluesy sensibility, whether he is playing muscular saxophone or, on "Blues to Bechet" and "Mr. Syms," the more unusual-sounding (at the time) soprano sax. Elvin Jones, who hadn't been in Coltrane's band long, really busts out on the quicker numbers, such as "Blues to You" and "Mr. Day." The 2000 reissue on Rhino adds five bonus tracks: two alternates apiece of "Blues to Elvin" and "Blues to You" (which were originally released on the 1995 Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings box), and "Untitled Original (Exotica)." This last track first appeared on the 1970 compilation The Coltrane Legacy and, like every other one on this CD, was recorded on October 24, 1960. -- Richie Unterberger\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nThe recordings here come from the same October 1960 sessions that produced My Favorite Things, and while the all-blues album is far less famous, it's an equivalent document of John Coltrane's work in his earliest recordings of the quartet with drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner. The all-blues format emphasizes Coltrane's personal relationship to the form, both his emotional depth and his capacity for harmonic extension on essentially modal materials. His soprano on "Blues to Bechet" is a summoning up of the blues form's original power, also apparent in the slow and moving "Blues to Elvin." "Blues to You," played with just Jones and bassist Steve Davis, is a hot coil of sound, Coltrane's convoluted lines twisting into new shapes while he and Jones catch every possible nuance of the beat. "Mr. Knight" would later turn into "India," but it's already a floating modal figure for his tenor. This edition includes the alternate takes previously available only in the box set The Heavyweight Champion. --Stuart Broomer \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nAnother excellent Atlantic set, December 22, 2000 \nReviewer: Stephen from Virginia\nI remember wearing out side two of my old vinyl copy years ago. I still love the "Mr." tunes but I've grown to appreciate the "blues" Tunes more and more. Unfortunately, Elvin Jones was not "unleashed" until Trane began to record for impulse. I think I would enjoy this one more if Jones were playing a little more in his mature polyrythmic style. All in All, a very good set.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nA Blues and Jazz Mix - Back to His Roots, December 12, 2000 \nReviewer: Todd B. Vick from Charlotte, N.C.\nThis was a small change of pace for Coltrane. The album is very well mixed. It has a bluesy plus Jazzy feel to it. Also, Coltrane plays the soprano sax on this album, and on several songs you can hear that Coltrane is very much back into an avant-garde mode, especially on the song titled "Blues to You." Coltrane seems to be experimenting on this tune, which simply demonstrates the 'Trane's ability to improvise through songs giving them a strong edgy sound. Coltrane has a major label (Atlantic Records) recording these sessions and this is possibly why the album is mixed a little better than some of his previous work. Moreover, of all the Coltrane CDs in my collection, this one is the most avant-garde and eclectic. This album has alot of different tones and textures which makes for a good album. One of the better tracks on the CD, I think, is "Mr. Knight." Here Coltrane plays the tenor sax and the song has a different feel to it. The inserts describe this song as a "synthesis of West Indian and African music." It seems more like a cross between Jazz and Big Band. Nonetheless, Coltrane's playing on this song is sparing and it sounds nice. Overall the album is a good collection of music from a great Jazz artists. If you like the 'Trane, then you should definitely add this one to your collection.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nColtrane Takes Blues Further Out On Classic 1960 Set, October 18, 2000 \nReviewer: kaatgp from FL\nIn his liner notes to "Coltrane Plays The Blues," Joe Goldberg concludes that "...one of the most restless experimenters in jazz has far from exhausted the possibilities of the music's oldest form." Indeed, this quartet (drummer Elvin Jones, pianist Mc Coy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis) pushed the music ever further with their seismic "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things."\n\nRecorded 40 years ago this month (in one day-long session!), "Blues" is yet another jewel in Coltrane's Atlantic Records crown. It is a traditional, earthbound return in name only; Coltrane the composer and his quartet borrow from spiritually-charged Indian and Middle Eastern styles influencing their early work, and from then-former labelmate Ray Charles' Latin-flavored R&B jazz with Mongo Santamaria and David Newman. \n\nWith the stinging solos on "Blues To Bechet" and "Blues To You," (which Greenberg describes as "strictly contemporary Coltrane") the master brings intensity and experimentation to a form known for sparsity and grit. Tyner (who stars in the set's "Untitled Original" not in blues style), Davis and especially Jones form a blues box where Coltrane flutters (through eight minutes of "Mr. Day") or slyly waits to crash through on "Mr. Knight" (seeming to interrupt a percussive Tyner/Jones musical conversation with soft, more than tonal screeches). Coltrane would take the music progressive light years from this blues base in his last years, but would never show the concentration or innately swinging feel he does here.\n\n"Coltrane Plays The Blues" is intensely done, classically shaped jazz that, while outstanding in its own right and essential for longtime fans, only hints at his importance to the newly initiated. Instead, new fans should reach for MCA/Impulse's Johnny Hartman LP, the melodic "Gentle Side of John Coltrane" or Atlantic/Rhino's new Coltrane best-of, which make a stronger career case for his legend and reverenced status. \n\nCD Connection.com Review\nPersonnel: John Coltrane (soprano & tenor saxophones); McCoy Tyner (piano); Steve Davis (acoustic bass); Elvin Jones (drums). \n\nProducer: Nesuhi Ertegun. \nReissue producer: Patrick Milligan. \n\nRecorded at Atlantic Studios, New York, New York on October 24, 1960. Originally released on Atlantic (1382). Includes liner notes by Neil Tesser and Joe Goldberg. \n\nDigitally remastered by Dan Hersch (DigiPrep). \n\nOne of THE great jazz quartets of all time: Coltrane (tenor & soprano), McCoy Tyner (piano), the earth-shaking Elvin Jones (drums) and Steve Davis (bass, though 'Trane's band would most often feature Jimmy Garrison and sometimes Reggie Workman), playing a blues-inspired program of originals. This band had an empathy shared by only the best bands in jazz: the Brubeck and Miles Davis groups, the Modern Jazz Quartet--and it shows here, with warmth, confidence, economy and relaxed interplay. \n\nColtrane is clearly center-stage here, his distinctive tone--and soon to become one of the most influential in jazz & beyond, as this was recorded in 1960--weaving through a set a of earthy yet thoughtful blues-based original compositions. The "wail" of early '60s Coltrane was in its embryonic stage here, but his playing is potent and soulful (without wearing his heart on his sleeve). A great place to begin with for The Man's post-bop/post-'50s music for the curious; fans will want it for the previously unreleased "Untitled Original."
This jazz cd contains 11 tracks and runs 74min 40sec.
Freedb: a1117e0b

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