I’ve now listened to 12 John Coltrane albums: the 9 albums in the earlier post, plus Soultrane (1958), Dakar (recorded in 1957, released in 1963), and Olé Coltrane (1961).
Instead of writing something to expose my ignorance of music, I’m just going to say that my personal favourite albums are Blue Train, Kind of Blue, and Crescent. If Kind of Blue doesn’t count because it’s Miles Davis’s album and John Coltrane was only playing in the band, swap it with A Love Supreme.
So not Giant Steps. Not Ascension. That probably says something about me.
What about favourite tracks?
I struggle to pick a favourite from Blue Train and Kind of Blue, as I love the entire albums. A Love Supreme should be listened to in its entirety.
Crescent is wonderful as a whole, lyrical, sorrowful, but 2 tracks stand out: “Wise One” and “Lonnie’s Lament”.
Here are my other favourite tracks:
“Equinox” from Coltrane’s Sound:
“In a Sentimental Mood” from Duke Ellington& John Coltrane:
“Big Nick” from Duke Ellington& John Coltrane:
“Angelica” from Duke Ellington& John Coltrane:
“My Favorite Things” from My Favorite Things:
“Giant Steps” from Giant Steps:
“Milestones” from Milestones:
“Good Bait” from Soultrane:
“Route 4” from Dakar:
Here is someone talking about the albums in a more articulate way:
https://spinditty.com/genres/Ten-Coltrane-Albums
My listening to Coltrane stopped at Ascension, which means that I haven’t listened to music of his later periods—avant-garde jazz and all that, like Living Space, Transition, Sun Ship, First Meditations, Interstellar Space, etc. That can wait. I don’t want to listen to him so obsessively that I can’t touch his music again in my life.
Next, I’ll probably focus on Miles Davis.
So much great music in so little time. Not that Davis was a slacker.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to keep hearing them together, maybe try - I am not sure how you listen to music! - the big set released last year, "The Final Tour: Bootleg Series Vol. 6." Coltrane is exploring; Davis is confident; they both have some amazing solos. Kind of a transition point for both. They both have so many transition points, though.
I find it crazy to look at the years and see how much great music he produced in a short time.
ReplyDeleteDo you like his music in the later years?
I think I'll try to check out other albums he and Davis made together.
Yes, I like Coltrane pretty much beginning to end. I like lots of free jazz musicians.
ReplyDeleteI want to listen to everything from Coltrane, but I don't want to get sick of him. That happened before with Billie Holiday.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about fusion, and acid jazz?
There is lots of great fusion music, mostly recorded by Miles Davis and musicians who played with Davis. There is also lots of kitsch fusion.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent I know what acid jazz is, it is all kitsch, and also not jazz. It has provided some pleasant sonic background on a handful of hiphop records.
Yeah, I thought so.
ReplyDeleteI heard of the term somewhere, searched for it on youtube, and found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6lDGgs7jAc
I listened to some of the songs and concluded that it's not jazz, and it's clearly made for people who don't like jazz.
Regarding fusion, I haven't heard much, but knew that Davis did play fusion.