There's not a lot I can say about the music on 'Soultrane' that hasn't been said before, it's a stone-cold classic from jazz's golden age, and one of the albums where Trane began to overtake Sonny Rollins as the most influential tenor player in the jazz world. He would continue to build on that status throughout the sixties until his untimely death, in 1967.
'Soultrane' comes from a ridiculously prolific period of Coltrane's career, a time when he was making huge leaps as a musician. In 1957, he not only recorded 'Blue Train', 'Dakar', 'Coltrane', and 'Lush Life', but he spent time with Thelonious Monk, appearing on the classic 'Monk's Music'. While that was a busy year, 1958 was even more productive, with Trane in the studio recording enough material for an eventual eight releases on Prestige, including 'Soultrane', 'John Coltrane & Kenny Burrell', 'Settin' The Pace' and 'Bahia'. If all that work wasn't keeping him busy enough, in late-1957 he began playing with Miles Davis again, recording 'Milestones' at the start of 1958, only three days before hitting the studio to record 'Soultrane'.
Coltrane's obsession in perfecting his craft during this time is legendary, he would go home to practice into the wee hours of the morning instead of joining his fellow musicians to cavort after late-night performances. The hard work pays off on 'Soultrane', where Trane moves from competent sideman to leader in full, keeping the listener's interest on long takes of "Good Bait" and "I Want To Talk About You," as well as introducing a style on "Russian Lullaby" that resulted in Ira Gitler coining the phrase "Sheets of Sound" that would stick with the saxophonist for the rest of his career. The Red Garland Trio perfectly backs up Trane, these four musicians recorded together quite a bit during this time and their easy rapport is a joy to listen to. With all these factors at work, 'Soultrane' is a hard bop extravaganza, truly one of the masterworks from the first part of Trane's career.
'Soultrane' was recorded on February 7, 1958, at Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey.
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
Red Garland - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Art Taylor - Drums
For the freeload, which by the way, is the 2021 24Bit 192kHz remaster, tell us what your favorite mode of transportation is.
Bicycle for inner city trips; train for everything else. The trains in Spain, and Europe, are cheap, timely and comfortable. Seville has tons of dedicated bike lanes throughout the city which makes bike riding safe and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that the trains in Spain stay mainly in the plain?
DeleteSi, amiga!
DeleteHorses and motorcycles unless it rains.
ReplyDeleteHad the chance to ride choppers a couple of times and there's a mixed feeling of joy, wonder and fragility.
Don't enjoy driving and cars at high speed give me the creeps.
Bat
Singapore Airlines
ReplyDeleteWhatever somebody else drives...I'm too lazy to do it myself.
ReplyDeleteMy own two feet.
ReplyDeleteMy folding bicycle, great way of getting around. For long distances I prefer trains instead of buses. Best of all is probably walking, I've explored countless streets, lanes, and alleys in Bangkok on foot!
ReplyDeleteThanks Babs. Walking is great unless you've actually got a distant destination. I walk several miles every day. I used to bicycle quite a bit, got out of the habit, I believe I'll give it another whirl this spring & summer. I still drive, occasional trips to Pittsburgh to see family. Not so much into mass transportation for many years.
ReplyDelete“Now shall I walk or shall I ride?
ReplyDelete'Ride,' Pleasure said;
'Walk,' Joy replied.”
― W.H. Davies
Never owned a car until I moved from NYC to the wilderness of the NJ suburbs. Now just about everything is a few minutes walk with mass transit for work.
Anything that floats: bamboo rafts in SE Asia, a windjammer, in the Caribbean a catamaran in the Sea of Cortez, traveling as supercargo on freighters as a kid, and innumerable ferry crossings—they've all had their charms.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Manhattan, a car is more trouble than it's worth. That said, I love driving. Most everything I want, I can walk to. Every day, I also walk as a form of exercise, and most days I walk (fast) a few miles every morning, and then a few more in the early evening.
ReplyDeleteBetween two and three hours a day is optimal.
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ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-G4GJWy88IM
Electric vehicle. Really helped in northern California when gas was US $7.00 per gallon during COVID. I realize gasoline has been that expensive (or more) in Europe for 20 years, but in the US most everyone living outside major cities are used to $2.99ish a gallon for what seems like a long time.
ReplyDeleteAnything I don't have to stand up in and can stretch my legs out in and as long as I'm not driving, steering or flying it. Sadly my arthritis is allergic to most forms of transportation including walking. Therefore I suspect an Ocean Liner with a first class suite is top of the list for me these days.
ReplyDeletePS And as commuting to London in the cattle trucks that British Rail, as was, used to call carriages is likely one of the main causes of my arthritis, trains are definitely at the bottom of the list!
Without exception the train is my favorite mode of transportation. Though in my dreams, a 1968 Triumph 650 Bonneville is great.
ReplyDeleteMy nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away -- trust me, you do NOT want to walk past that place for fear the meth lab will explode -- and the general mercantile is 1/2 mile out on the highway (OK, OK, it's an Ace Hardware & a bang-up great chainsaw repair place). My preferred mode of transport is my CR-V Hybrid.
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