John Coltrane Quartet - Ballads

Music To My Ears . . . And For Your Ears, Too

Gene Lees wrote on Liner Notes that John Coltrane had on occasion expressed puzzlement over such descriptions of himself as "best of the angry tenors." He once said: "I guess they say that because I play the horn hard." And if I may add, he played with love and dedication that shows in every note, his interpretations radiate simple elegance and respect to the material.

"Ballads" is a collection of eight striking tunes recorded in 1961 and 1962 by John Coltrane Quartet featuring himself on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, with the special participation of a guest musician, bassist Reggie Workman on "It's Easy To Remember," one of my absolute favorite tunes from one of my favorite composers of all-time, Richard Rodgers.

The quartet's musicianship is unrivaled. They play with utmost confidence making sure that all the tunes are precisely executed starting off with my top choice from this set, a Jimmy McHugh classic standard with a beautiful melody that is deeply felt, "Say It (Over and Over Again)" down to the perfect ender, "Nancy (With The Laughing Face)." Every tune is an exquisite musical moment where Trane shows off his virtuosity, subtlety and finesse in his playing.

This collection represents some of the sweetest sounds in jazz that music lovers will find irresistibly charming ... tunes that are soothing and easy on the ears. Don't miss out on this CD. It's one of "the angry tenor's" best recordings. It is so beautiful that you can even classify it as a Desert Island CD without having second thoughts.

With my heartfelt recommendation for your listening pleasure now and forever.

P.S. For more irresistibly beautiful music, please check these out - My Favorite Things, The Gentle Side of John Coltrane, A Love Supreme and John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman. May 6, 2008

Recomendo

Chaïm Perelman, pensador francês, dizia que o discurso perfeito é aquele capaz de persuadir o auditório universal. E a gente fica pensando: num discurso perfeito podemos utilizar uma linguagem que serve para mentir ? Segundo Umberto Eco uma linguagem que não serve para mentir não serve para dizer a verdade, ou seja, é uma linguagem que não serve para nada.
Falácias e paradoxos estão bem aí, em todo discurso perfeito, mesmo que nossos olhos, ouvidos e cérebros não percebam. Vez ou outra, em jazz, surgem discursos sinceros, honestos, alinhados à Ética de Aristóteles onde o silogismo clássico não permite aventuras, blefes ou seduções. Um desses momentos lúcidos do jazz é marcado pela gravação do disco Ballads, de John Coltrane, muito criticado por especialistas em mentir. Puro, honesto, sincero: eis um discurso perfeito, daqueles que seduzem o auditório universal de todas as épocas e lugares. Gravado entre 1961 e 1962, com McCoy Tyner (p), Jimmy Garrison (b) e Elvin Jones (d). September 2, 2007

Majestic Coltrane

This is a great starter album for anybody who wants to dip into the vast collection of albums that John Coltrane made. At the time of these recordings in 1961/1962 Coltrane was producing hard-edged modern Jazz, that for the newcomer can be hard to get into straight away. These tracks are an opportunity to hear the classic Coltrane quartet of McCoy Tyner (Piano), Jimmy Garrison (Bass) and Elvin Jones (Drums) produce a recording of ballads which are all lyrical and beautiful.

From the opening notes of track 1 'Say It (Over and over again)' Coltranes tone is controlled and the theme is stated simply. This sets the pattern for all the tunes on this album. To appreciate just what Coltrane does on this record you do really need to have heard some of his other recordings. Compare this with say 'Giant Steps' or 'Live at the Village Vanguard' and you'll get a better idea of the subtlety and beauty of his and the groups playing on this album.

The leaders change of style is reflected in the rest of the rest of the band. McCoy Tyner takes the first solo on the album and you could be listening to a Pianist from decades earlier, rather than one who was at the cutting edge of modern Jazz Piano playing in the early 60's. Only on the exceptional recording with with Johnny Hartmann about a year later would Coltrane ever play in this style again. In fact aside from that 1963 album his music became more and more avant-garde until his death in 1967.

So don't neglect the other classic Coltrane albums (of which there are many), but this really is an essential purchase for the Jazz fan or the newcomer to Coltrane.

August 17, 2007

Perfect album...

This was one of my first Coltrane albums, and it's still my favorite of his. Every single note and beat played by every single player on this album is perfect and in the right place; there are no extra notes or off-key harmonics in this one; even the mistakes--if there are any--are perfect.

It was just one of those album sessions (like Kind Of Blue, Black Saint and The Sinner Lady, It's Time) where every single thing is perfect and nothing could or would be changed. (My only gripe is that it's not a double album!) That said, I don't believe there was a lot of conceptual thought going into this album--I think it was just professionals laying down a album of ballads--enough of a concept--with some of them drawn from Sinatra's repetoire (the reigning ballad vocalist of the time), whom Jazzers had been raiding for directions in standards for a few years then. The fact that there was no real pressure to make the album (indeed, the album was made to 'relieve' pressure--the pressure and mixed-press that Coltrane had receive just months earlier during his famous exploratory Village Vanguard run); this album was about musicians relaxing, in their element (the studio), and laying down some tracks.

That the album comes out perfect is the symbiotic relationship between the fairly new 'Classic Quartet'--that is where the real/only experimentation ont his album lays, in the interaction between Coltrane, Tyner, Jones, and Garrison (add holdover Workman, who, also with Garrison, is also on the spellbinding Village Vanguard stuff of '61). That this album is so effortless seeming--and it probably was for these seasoned musicians doing comfort duty--is amazing given how tight and perfect the songs emerge.

If you like ballads, you will like this album. It may just be the greatest of all jazz-ballad instrumental albums. July 8, 2007

4 1/2 stars.

no sheets of sound here. no screeching workouts of aggression and twisted genius, either. this 1962 session from coltrane is just as advertised: ballads. and a great set of 'em, too. soulful, relaxed, at ease with his musical language, coltrane delivered a very fine album of late night sounds here. the deluxe edition adds a bonus disc with fourteen tracks, including 7 takes of "it's easy to remember." might seem a bit much there, but it's all icing on the cake. no complaints from me. thanks mr coltrane, wherever your soul may be soaring. April 1, 2007

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