Posted on 09/16/2023 4:53:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in September 1957, ‘Blue Train’ is one of John Coltrane’s masterpieces.
Recorded on September 15, 1957, John Coltrane‘s Blue Train is an album revered, cherished, and loved by many… and there are others who cannot quite see what all the fuss is about. I am firmly in the former camp. Granted, some controversy surrounds the recording and critics argue that both Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller have done much better work elsewhere. Yet such judgements seem overly harsh; this is, after all, a Coltrane album.
Nonetheless, Billboard’s review of Blue Train was positive: “A provocative item in the hard, modern idiom, most notable for tenor-ist Coltrane’s arresting solo continuity. Obviously moved by vibrant, creative rhythm playing – Paul Chambers, (Philly) Joe Jones, Kenny Drew – trumpeter Lee Morgan and trombonist Curtis Fuller also turn in top performances.”
Perhaps some of that is due to Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones already having played together on an album the pianist recorded for Riverside Records? It’s hard to say. Either way, in truth, for the title track alone – and its value is virtually doubled by the addition of a “Moment’s Notice” – this record is a masterpiece. So familiar is “Blue Train” that it feels like a theme to some long-forgotten TV series or the soundtrack of an atmospheric movie. It is everything that makes jazz so affecting.
The debate surrounding the album centers on “Blue Train.” On the original album release, the piano solo from take eight is spliced into the following take from the same September 1957 session to create what we have come to accept as Coltrane’s masterpiece. A later reissue has both the complete take eight and the composite version, much to Van Gelder’s annoyance, who considered such tape-splicing “desecration.”
Along with the four Coltrane originals on the album, there is a beautiful reading of the Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer standard, “I’m Old Fashioned” that is unapologetically sentimental and among Coltrane’s finest ballads. All in all, the album is one of Coltrane’s best and well worth a listen.
Awesome album by John Coltrane. Every song is terrific!
If it his masterpiece then it is his only masterpiece, An artist only gets one unless he goes to another medium. Masterpiece is the piece that signals his mastery of his art, nothing else. He can only do that once. It is probably NOT his best piece because he is still improving his art long after he has created his masterpiece.
In this album, Coltrane was playing hard bop— the major jazz style of the 1950s— and showed he could do it better than anyone. In later albums (I’d single out Giant Steps, My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme), he showed he could move beyond hard bop and point jazz to new directions altogether.
This sounds good on rainy days when you are inside reading a book and sipping a mug of coffee.
Bookmark
Coltrane and Monk were my favorites when I was a teenager. Now I listen to NPR (GASP!!!) at work at night when it plays jazz. When I was a zoomie E4 in 1970 on Kadena AB one of my colleagues was John Gladstone Heyliger lll. He was(is?) a nephew of Thurgood Marshall and an artist. He painted a really fine mural of Coltrane on his barracks wall when we were given access to paint and brushes to paint our rooms.
A guy at my second job was playing Coltrane on the Bluetooth the other night. I looked at him like he had horns growing out of his head. We are closer work buds now!
We even listened to Ray, Sinatra, Bennet and Monk and others.
Two of my cats are named musicians/songwriters: Townes Van Zandt and Thelonious Monk. If I ever get another cat, I’m naming him Jeff Beck.....
Also feed two outside female cats: Ettah and Joplin (Dumplins).
I’ve been listening to - and playing along with ( I play drums ) - Soultrane for the past week or so . Very fine album which I’d overlooked in the past but just recently discovered . Definitely 4/5 stars in my opinion .
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