[DavidMahler]

Coltrane went through so many changes stylistically over a 12 year period. Is there any particular period which you like the most or the least?

 

[catachresis]

A Love Supreme and Crescent for me, but then I'm not a big Coltrane fan. 'Much more into Ornette and Archie Shepp.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif A Love Supreme and Crescent for me, but then I'm not a big Coltrane fan. 'Much more into Ornette and Archie Shepp.

Have You heard Ascension or Innerstellar Space or Stellar Regions, Sunship, Meditations....but definitely Ascension. Those are some of the best free jazz recordings ever, you probably have heard them but if not, definitely worth checking out, sounds like you would be into it

 

[LFF]

I find myself listening to mostly his Prestige recordings. Good sound quality and great music. After that, I like his Atlantic recordings following by two of his Impulse recordings - "Ballads" and "Coltrane and Hartman".

 

[IceClass]

For me, the earlier the better to some extent.
By the time we get to Live in Japan era he's lost me.

 

[tru blu]

Great stuff in every period, but I'm most into the earlier Impulses, Ballads, …and Johnny Hartman, The Coltrane Quartet Plays, A Love Supreme, especially Crescent…a lot of Trane's more avant-gardist stuff sounds wrong to me, Sun Ship perhaps being the notable exception. I think quite a few of the musicians who came up in the hard-bop era had problems really breaking free…I feel the same about Sonny Rollins's music. The next generation was much more comfortable with life "on the outside", and as a result made better albums.

Actually, that reminds me of a story: Saxist David Murray was playing the Village Vanguard with the pianist Geri Allen and drummer Andrew Cyrille, who's known for his work with Cecil Taylor. (I think Fred Hopkins was on bass, but it could've been Ray Drummond.) So they'd just finished a set and are making their way back stage when Geri queries Andrew about something he'd just played: "What was that thing you did? At first it seemed like it was way out there, but when I responded I realized it was really inside." Andrew's response? "Yeah, I live out there. I just come in every now and then to be social."

 

[catachresis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru blu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, that reminds me of a story: Saxist David Murray was playing the Village Vanguard with the pianist Geri Allen and drummer Andrew Cyrille, who's known for his work with Cecil Taylor. (I think Fred Hopkins was on bass, but it could've been Ray Drummond.) So they'd just finished a set and are making their way back stage when Geri queries Andrew about something he'd just played: "What was that thing you did? At first it seemed like it was way out there, but when I responded I realized it was really inside." Andrew's response? "Yeah, I live out there. I just come in every now and then to be social."

Fine anecdote you've got there. [*Phnarrr!*] I'd expropriate it, but it alludes to a more intimate knowledge of jazz musicians than I'm capable of sustaining. It sounds like just the thing for planting one's metaphorical flag on Everest at the typical cocktail party though.

 

[crossmd]

Coltrane and Hartman, A Love Supreme, and his work with Thelonious Monk too. The later free jazz stuff doesn't get me going as often.

 

[whaleyboy]

My favorite albums are probably Blue Train and Giant Steps.

 

[Tyson]

Giant Steps and Interstellar Space. But then I also like Schnittke and Ligetti.... >-)

 

[Jubei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find myself listening to mostly his Prestige recordings. Good sound quality and great music. After that, I like his Atlantic recordings following by two of his Impulse recordings - "Ballads" and "Coltrane and Hartman".

Pretty much the same with me. I adore Lush Life.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jubei /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pretty much the same with me. I adore Lush Life.

It's really instructive to compare the Prestige version of "Lush Life" with the one Trane recorded with Johnny Hartman for Impulse five years later. Both incarnations are great, but on the later arrangement he has to demonstrate that he's clearly a more streamlined player…not a note is wasted.

Also, I should add that one of my favorite Trane performances ever is the version of "In A Sentimental Mood" that kicks off Duke Ellington & John Coltrane. That six-note repeated figure that Ellington opens with is just priceless.

 

[jsaliga]

Three of my favorite jazz albums (not just Coltrane albums) are The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Ascension, and Meditations. So that should tell you something about what I think of Coltrane as a giant of the jazz avant garde.

But I love his early stuff with Prestige and Atlantic, before he landed at Impulse! where he had the freedom to explore more fully his atonal proclivities. And suffice it to say that the material he recorded as a sideman with Miles Davis is priceless.

Coltrane? It's all great stuff from where I sit.

--Jerome