Blue Train

This is the first John Coltrane album that I have purchased in a while. I used to own 2 or three, I think. I was initially impressed with his sound as part of the Miles Davis Quintet and so I bought one then another, and another CD.

The last Coltrane CD that I purchased, many years ago, was “A Love Surpreme”. The title track to that album is almost indescribable, but I’ll try my best. It starts with a recurring and building theme, this goes on for several minutes before Coltrane breaks out into a curious sound. The best way I can describe this sound is to have you imagine some angry post-apocalyptic wanderer happening upon the radioactive remains of the “forbidden zone”. Within the zone, he finds a strange brass object, weathered but serviceable, and tries to play it, unsure even of which end to blow in. It sounds something like that.

The noise is so jaring that I kept this cd for many years, thinking that one day I might have use of its special powers of revulsion. A fued with a neighbour or perhaps houseguests that were no longer welcome.

I even played the track for my wife, so that she might be able to deploy it against burglers and what not. Its about this time that all of my John Coltrane cds mysteriously disappeared.

I just recently broke my Coltrane fast with Blue Train, mostly because it features a 19 year old Lee Morgan, and I wanted to hear what he sounded like at that early age. Turns out, pretty damn good, but certainly more bebop-like than his later stuff with Art Blakey and his solo career.

Coltrane sounds pretty good on this one too and leaves lots of time for his fellow players to do their thing. These include Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on Bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. This is actually 3/5ths of the early Miles Davis Quintet, with Lee Morgan and Kenny Drew filling the other two spots.

Sound Quality: 7/10
Favorite Scale: 6/10

30 October 2006 | John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Music, Jazz | Comments