Record Boy | John Coltrane | "Coltrane" | Blue wasn't quiet, it was the color for diving deep

The first prize from my Village Vanguard vinyl haul is John Coltrane's "Coltrane".

First of all, the cover is powerful.

It's blue.

Not just blue, but a bit cold, a bit hazy, and yet his face is brought in so close.

It looks like he's staring straight at me, but also like his consciousness is directed somewhere far away, not here.

It's not a flashy design.

But this blue really stays with you.

It's closer to the color of sound diving deep than a quiet color.

There are several Coltrane records with covers that change the atmosphere the moment you see them, and I think this one belongs to that lineage.

It doesn't pose grandly, but when you pull it from the shelf, the room suddenly tightens up.

It has that kind of strength.

Looking at the back, the credits are beautiful too.

John Coltrane

McCoy Tyner

Jimmy Garrison

Elvin Jones

Just this lineup alone lets you see the skeleton of the sound.

And what's more, it includes,

Out of This World

Soul Eyes

The Inch Worm

Tunji (Toon-Gee)

Miles’ Mode

is the composition.

Just by following the song titles, you can tell that this is not a straightforward album.

Standards, original compositions, and slightly twisted tracks are all lined up on the same record.

The entrance is open, but the depths are quite profound.

What left an impression in the liner notes on the back was the passage about how Coltrane was intensely focused on the handling of chords.

Finding his direction under Miles, and then pushing it further as his own.

The style known as "sheets of sound."

And the way he plays, entering the interior of the chords, expanding them, and squeezing out their implications.

It is not just a matter of him doing something difficult.

I think it means that Coltrane was thinking within the sound.

That is well reflected in the track listing of this album as well.

For example, "Out of This World."

On the back cover, the long exploration in this song is described as something that establishes chords, shows their basic extensions, and then moves further outward.

There is even an expression that it is like watching three-dimensional chess.

This description is likely not an exaggeration.

Because Coltrane's performance cannot be captured by words like hot or sharp alone; there are moments where the act of thinking itself becomes the driving force.

But this album does not end with just the head.

That's what's good about it.

It includes "Soul Eyes".

Just the presence of this track title changes the temperature of the record a little.

Moreover, the liner notes on the back describe it as the most "conventional" performance on this LP, while also clearly detailing the contributions of McCoy Tyner on piano, and Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison.

In other words, they aren't just playing a ballad here to take a breather.

The entire quartet is supporting Coltrane's thoughts and lyricism.

"The Inch Worm," "Tunji," and "Miles' Mode" are also interesting.

On the back, "The Inch Worm" is mentioned as a more compact and tightly formed performance,

and it is shown that "Tunji" and "Miles' Mode" each possess different expressions as Coltrane compositions.

In short, this record doesn't just push through with one long exploration; it is also an album that lines up and shows several of Coltrane's faces on a single disc.

This is what I like about this record.

When it comes to Coltrane, there are works that tend to get hidden in the shadow of his massive masterpieces or records spoken of like myths.

But this "Coltrane" has the look of, so to speak, a "blue midpoint."

It is already fully Coltrane, yet still in the midst of a movement of change.

Not a finished product, but a work in progress.

That is exactly why it is interesting to listen to.

In it, there is the will that leads to the greatness of his later years, and at the same time, the suppleness of the quartet.

I'm happy when I find a record like this at Village Vanguard Vinyl.

It's a little different from the joy of buying a famous record all over again.

It feels like a shade of blue that matches my current mood has emerged from the shelf.

Moreover, when it's Coltrane, it doesn't just end as a "cool record."

When you listen, it makes you use both your ears for thinking and your ears for feeling.

The blue on this jacket is not a color of stillness.

It is a color for diving deep.

And the Coltrane on this record, too, doesn't just move forward; he dives into the sound and brings back a different view from within it.

Village Vanguard vinyl haul number one.

John Coltrane, "Coltrane."

It's effective just sitting on the shelf, but I think this is a record that truly shows its worth only when you drop the needle.