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Plays the Blues
John ColtraneTHE JEAN-PIERRE LELOIR COLLECTION
180 pure virgin vinyl LPs in Gatefold packaging
"Coltrane Plays the Blues" is a thematic LP presenting the immortal saxophonist performing six tunes based on the blues. He is showcased here fronting his classic quartet, with McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Tyner sits out on “Blues to Bechet” and “Blues to You”, reducing the band to a trio on these tunes. On “Blues to Bechet” and “Mr. Syms”, Trane plays soprano sax.
Although Coltrane recorded blues and blues-inspired tunes all throughout his career, this is the only album he issued completely devoted to the blues, even though not all of the songs here are in strictly traditional blues form. Coltrane Plays the Blues received a four-star rating in Down Beat, with Don DeMicheal writing that, “Though Coltrane is not a blues player as, say, Milt Jackson is, he nonetheless evokes a blues feeling within a more abstract, musically sophisticated framework. That his knowledge of the blues is deep can be heard in the upper-register rasp he uses from time to time – it’s the same effect that a blues singer gets with his voice. The brightest track is ‘Mr. Day’, which finds Coltrane at his best, creating great excitement.”
PERSONNEL:
JOHN COLTRANE, tenor sax (soprano sax on A2 & B2 only)
McCOY TYNER, piano (out on A2-A3)
STEVE DAVIS, bass
ELVIN JONES, drums
New York, October 24, 1960.
TRACKS:
SIDE A:
01 BLUES TO ELVIN
02 BLUES TO BECHET
03 BLUES TO YOU
SIDE B:
01 MR. DAY
02 MR. SYMS
03 MR. KNIGHT
- Format
- LP
- Discs
- 1
- Label code
- 37042
LPS 149890
John Coltrane
John Coltrane is an American musician and saxophonist dedicated to the world of jazz and considered one of the most notorious influences of the genre, especially the bebop style.
He is originally from Hamlet, North Carolina, and in his career he stands out for his long and original improvised melodies.
He is also known for his influence on the struggle for the civil rights of people of color, a marked social conflict of the time and to which he contributed through his music, with lyrics inspired by the theme and free melodies that he developed through several notes played at the same time.
BIOGRAPHY
John William Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, on September 23, 1926. He was the son of John R. Coltrane and Alice Coltrane, working people dedicated to the world of tailoring and sewing, but with great musical skills inherited by his son.
Coltrane's family was linked to the religious and political world, which is why Coltrane grew up in the city of High Point, North Carolina, where they moved a few months after his birth for work reasons.
In 1938, at the age of 12 and after the death of the most representative male figures of his lineage, John Coltrane joined the community orchestra, playing clarinet and tenor horn. In 1945 he served for a year in the U.S. Navy.
Coltrane later devoted his life to professional alto and tenor saxophone playing and in 1949 joined Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band. After several musical works as part of some bands of the genre, in 1955 he really began his musical career in an outstanding way; he joined the famous quintet of Miles Davis, American musician, composer and trumpeter, considered one of the most prominent figures of jazz, especially after World War II, and with whom he managed to record one of his most outstanding recordings Kind of Blue in 1959.
However, before this and after some problems with Miles, in 1957 he joined the renowned pianist Thelonious Monk, with whom he achieved excellent collaborations. That same year he recorded his first solo album: Blue Train.
From this moment on and after a hard recovery due to his well-known drug addiction, Coltrane took a much more marked free style influenced by his religious convictions, present since his childhood, but fully developed after his new "awakening to life" and which he made clear in an excellent recording called A Love Supreme, released in 1965 and whose live performance, that same year in the city of Seattle, gave rise to a posthumous album released in 2021: A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle.
In 1969 he formed his own quartet and made his first recording with it, in an album called My Favorite Things, which also featured the renowned pianist McCoy Tyner.
This masterful jazz musician died in New York City on July 17, 1967 of liver cancer.
After his death, his musical career continued to reap success with a series of posthumous albums, compiling his recordings during his lifetime, and even with an outstanding special mention for the Pulitzer Prizes.
MUSICAL INFLUENCES
His earliest musical influences were his own parents. His father inspired him to play the clarinet and his mother was an excellent piano player.
His initial stage of musical development was marked by musicians such as Lester Young and Johnny Hodge. He was also inspired by the likes of Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Tab Smith.
COLLABORATORS IN PERFORMANCE
His main collaborators throughout his career have been his band mates, among whom we can mention musicians such as Miles David, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Chambers, Elmo Hope, Mal Waldron, Tommy Flanagan, Ray Draper, Wilbur Harden, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Burrell, among others.
DISCOGRAPHY
As a leader, John Coltrane has recorded over a hundred albums, more than 20 group albums with musicians Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and more than 50 albums recorded with other leaders, including compilations with other musicians.
Among the highlights of his musical career are:
Dakar - Original Jazz Classics (1957)
Coltrane - Original Jazz Classics (1957)
Blue Train - Blue Note (1957)
Wheelin And Dealin - Original Jazz Classics (1957)
The Last Trane - Original Jazz Classics (1957)
Soultrane - Original Jazz Classics (1958)
Coltrane Time - Blue Note (1958)
Blue Trane: John Coltrane Plays The Blues – Prestige (1958)
Giant Steps - Atlantic (1959)
Coltrane Jazz – Atlantic (1959)
My Favorite Things – Atlantic (1960)
The Best Of John Coltrane – Atlantic (1961)
Impressions - Impulse! (1961)
Coltranology, vols.I & II – Affinity (1961)
From The Original Master Tapes - Impulse! (1962)
The Complete Graz Concert vol 2 – Magnetic (1962)
The 1962 Graz Concert. Complete Edition - Jazz Lips (1962)
Promise – Moon (1962)
Bye Bye Blackbird - Original Jazz Classics(1962)
Ballads - Impulse! (1962)
Live At Birdland And The Half Note - Cool & Blue (1962)
Coltrane Live At Birdland - Impulse! (1963)
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - Impulse! (1963)
Live in Stockholm, 1963 – Charly (1963)
Afro Blue Impressions - Pablo Live (1963)
Coast to Coast – Moon (1964)
A Love Supreme - Impulse! (1965)
The John Coltrane Quartet Plays - Impulse IMPD (1965)
The John Coltrane Quartet Plays - Impulse MCAD (1965)
The Major Works Of John Coltrane - Impulse! (1965)
Ascension - Impulse! (1965)
New Thing At Newport - GRD 105(1965)
Love In Paris – LeJazz (1965)
A Love Supreme: Live In Concert - Black Label (1965)
Live In Paris - Black Label (1965)
A Live Supreme – Moon (1965)
Live In Seatle - Impulse! (1965)
Meditations - Impulse! (1965)
Live At The Village Vanguard Again - Impulse! (1966)
Live In Japan - Impulse! (1966)
Expression - Impulse! (1967)
A John Coltrane Retrospective - Impulse! (1967)
One down, one up: Live at the Half Note - Impulse! (1967)
The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording - Impulse! (1967)
Transition - Impulse! (Póstumo - grabado en el año 1965) (1970)
Sun Ship - Impulse! (Póstumo - grabado en el año 1965) (1971)
Interstellar Space - Impulse! (Póstumo - grabado en el año 1966) (1974)
First Meditations - Impulse! (Póstumo - grabado en el año 1965) (1977)
Blue world - Impulse! (2019)
A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle - Impulse! (Póstumo - grabado en el año 1965) (2021)
MOST FAMOUS SONG
There are many well-known songs by John Coltrane, but without a doubt, among the most emblematic and representative of his career are:
- My Favorite Things
- A Love Supreme
- Blue Train
- Gian Steps
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