Coltrane: John Coltrane on Impulse 2 "Coltrane"

This time, I will be discussing the 1962 album, "Coltrane."
When considering "John Coltrane on Impulse," "Live at the Village Vanguard" was released before this, but since it is a live album, I would like to set it aside for now. This time, I intend to proceed by focusing on the studio recordings that Coltrane himself approved for release.

All of the Impulse studio recordings were recorded and cut by Van Gelder at his new studio in Englewood Cliffs (opened in 1959). Being able to hear Coltrane in Van Gelder recordings from the 60s is one of the charms of the Impulse era. While Van Gelder's recordings are often subject to divided opinions regarding piano sound, there is no disagreement regarding the appeal of the presence of the wind instruments.

Now, this "Coltrane" album was produced by Bob Thiele. Thiele is also known as the lyricist and composer of the famous "What A Wonderful World," and he led Impulse as a producer after Creed Taylor left for Verve in 1961.

"Africa/Brass" was produced by Creed Taylor and was the first large-ensemble release to commemorate the label transfer. Then, under the Bob Thiele regime, Jimmy Garrison joined on bass starting with this album, forming the so-called definitive Impulse-era Coltrane Quartet, and the golden quartet plus Bob Thiele regime began.

Establishing a system, including the engineer and production, often leads to unified goals and positive results in many ways, and this is half true for the Coltrane Quartet as well (the reason why the other half is not true will be discussed later). This album contains five carefully selected tracks from three recording sessions, and one can feel the intention to carefully craft an album in the studio that pursues the possibilities of the quartet; every track is a fulfilling performance.

The first track is the 6/8 "Out Of This World." This rhythm can also be heard on the previous work "Greensleeves" and the famous "My Favorite Things." The previous work "Africa" is also in this vein and is the most popular rhythm in Coltrane jazz, but Elvin's drumming on this "Out Of This World" feels a step above, as if he has shed a layer. It could be said that this rhythm pattern reached completion here.

On this album, B1's "The Inch Worm" also features a similar rhythm, but this "Out Of This World" is more typical, and I feel that the drumming, which continues that rotational movement, is an invention in terms of rhythm that did not exist in the jazz world until now. This is a major step forward.

In the previous work "Greensleeves," Coltrane spoke of his attachment to 6/8, but the interpretation of the rhythm that he himself said he took a step forward with in "Africa" was sublimated and achieved here as an invention of the quartet. It is understandable that this album was titled "Coltrane," the same as his first leader album on Prestige.

Personally, I feel that the appeal of Coltrane jazz relies heavily on Elvin's drumming, and this track is the first instance of that. As for this rhythm, it continues later with "India" on "Impressions" and "Afro Blue" on "Live at Birdland." While "Out Of This World" is overwhelmingly inferior to "Afro Blue" in terms of popularity as a song, the others are live albums and have difficulties such as the cymbals standing out strangely (though that has its own live charm...), and as far as Elvin's drums are concerned, I am not the only one who considers this recording the starting point when looking back at Coltrane and that era. (A live version of "Out Of This World" can be heard on "Live in Seattle.")

Of course, the other tracks are also fulfilling performances, and Mal Waldron's song, A2's "Soul Eyes," is also a masterpiece. B3, titled "Miles' Mode," is also a performance where one can see Elvin's new frontier.

Overall, it can be evaluated as a fulfilling work where the prototype of the 60s Coltrane Quartet was formed, but after this, "Duke Ellington & John Coltrane" (62), "Ballads" (62), and "John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman" (63) followed, which were, so to speak, project albums, and although there are the aforementioned two live albums, "Impressions" and "Live at Birdland" (63), one must wait until 1964's "Crescent" for a full-scale studio recording as a quartet. What were the circumstances behind this?

As you know, "Ballads" is famous as Coltrane's biggest bestseller, but this is nothing more than a project by Bob Thiele. It is quite possible that because this album, which is considered a "project for fans who find Coltrane's music difficult and cannot understand it," sold so well, things became a bit strange for a while.

With that said, on this blog, I intend to take up "Crescent" next time and skip the works in between. Of course, they are all good albums, and I think "Ballads" and others are widely considered masterpieces that touch the heart with Coltrane's sincere attitude toward melody, but I feel they deviate from the main line of the quartet and the musical essence from the perspective of what Coltrane "brought to jazz."

So, next time, it will be "Crescent."