Coltrane's Sound
Coltrane's Sound is an album credited to jazz musician John Coltrane, recorded in 1960 and released in 1964 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1419. It was recorded at Atlantic Studios during the sessions for My Favorite Things, assembled after Coltrane had stopped recording for the label and was under contract to Impulse! Records. Like Prestige and Blue Note Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew during the 1960s Atlantic used unissued recordings and released them without either Coltrane's input or approval.
| Coltrane's Sound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | Late June/early July 1964[1][2] | |||
| Recorded | October 24 & 26, 1960 | |||
| Studio | Atlantic (New York City) | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 38:18 original LP 50:33 CD reissue | |||
| Label | Atlantic SD 1419 | |||
| Producer | Nesuhi Ertegun | |||
| John Coltrane chronology | ||||
| ||||
On February 16, 1999, Rhino Records reissued Coltrane's Sound as part of its Atlantic 50th Anniversary Jazz Gallery series. Included were two bonus tracks: "26-2" had been previously released on the 1970 album The Coltrane Legacy; and the alternate take of "Body and Soul" had been released on the 1975 album Alternate Takes.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz | (favorable)[3] |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [6] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [7] |
In a review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer called the album "one of the most highly underrated entries in Coltrane's voluminous catalog," and wrote: "The title could not have been more accurate, as each of the six pieces bear the unmistakable and indelible stamp of Coltrane's early-'60s style... Regardless of the lack of attention, these recordings remain among Trane's finest."[4]
Douglas Payne of All About Jazz stated: "Spin Coltrane's Sound and even non-jazz fans sense something. It's a warm, human sound that takes listeners somewhere they like to go... [it] makes for essential, enjoyable jazz listening."[3]
Writing for Jazz Views, Nick Lea described the album as a useful document "in tracing the saxophonist's transition from his coming out as a leader, and out from the shadow of his former boss to the ever searching and deeply exploratory playing that would ultimately lead to the classic A Love Supreme and the large scale Ascension."[8]
Author Eric Nisenson singled out Coltrane's rendition of "Body and Soul" for praise, commenting: "Coltrane does what every great jazz musician can do with a tune no matter how familiar or shopworn: he makes it into a uniquely personal statement and lets us hear it anew, as if for the first time."[9]
Track listing
Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" | Buddy Bernier, Jerry Brainin | October 26, 1960 | 6:51 |
| 2. | "Central Park West" | John Coltrane | October 24, 1960 | 4:16 |
| 3. | "Liberia" | John Coltrane | October 26, 1960 | 6:53 |
Side two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Body and Soul" | Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, Johnny Green | October 24, 1960 | 5:40 |
| 2. | "Equinox" | John Coltrane | October 26, 1960 | 8:39 |
| 3. | "Satellite" | John Coltrane | October 24, 1960 | 5:59 |
1999 reissue bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "26-2" | John Coltrane | October 26, 1960 | 6:17 |
| 8. | "Body and Soul" (alternate take) | Heyman, Sour, Eyton, Green | October 24, 1960 | 5:58 |
Personnel
- John Coltrane — tenor saxophone on all except "Central Park West" soprano saxophone on "Central Park West" and "26-2";
- McCoy Tyner — piano except “Satellite”
- Steve Davis — bass
- Elvin Jones — drums
Production personnel
- Nesuhi Ertegün — production
- Tom Dowd — engineering
- Marvin Israel — photography
- Ralph J. Gleason — liner notes
- Bob Carlton, Patrick Milligan — reissue supervision
- Dan Hersch — digital remastering
- Rachel Gutek — reissue design
- Hugh Brown — reissue art direction
- Kenny Berger — reissue liner notes
- Steven Chean — reissue editorial supervision
- Elizabeth Pavone — reissue editorial coordination
References
- Liner notes to The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings
- Billboard July 11, 1964
- All About Jazz review
- AllMusic review
- Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. pp. 286–287.
- Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- Lea, Nick. "Trane: The Atlantic Collection". Jazz Views. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- Nisenson, Eric (2009). Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest. Hachette Books. p. 97.