Any John Coltrane fans out there? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin C Brown]

Every now and then I read a review of something outside of my normal listening, and the review is so good I want to try it.

In this case, it's John Coltrane's One Up One Down. So I read the review on Amazon, and it might not be the best first CD to get from him. There's also the Very Best of John Coltrane, Live at Birdland, or Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.

Any suggestions? Or if I want to get a couple?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

But then life being what it is, there are two versions of the Very Best of !

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174

Not a lot of overlap between the 2 which is good.

 

[ScottCHI]

get:

Blue Train
Giant Steps
My Favorite Things
A Love Supreme

and if you don't have it, get:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

 

[Brian L]

Dude!

I have been on a major "Time to discover serious jazz" kick for most of a year. I have been "discovering" the likes of Trane, Monk, Montgomery, Rollins, Brubeck, Brown....and I LIKE IT! This, from a guy who's favorite band of all time was/is Black Sabbath.

As for Trane, RUN, do not walk to the store and buy the new Monk/Coltrane Carnegie Hall disc.

Oh and by the way, if you have not already done so, check out yourmusic.com. They have most of the stuff by all the giants for $5.99 shipped; even some SACD's.

Brian

 

[Scott Merryfield]

"Soultrane" is pretty darn good, too. My personal Coltrane favorite, though, is "My Favorite Things".

 

[Bobby T]

I second these
Love Supreme
Miles Davis Kind of Blue-Coltrane plays on this album

 

[Jeffrey R]

Just my .02 cents, but I think that Coltrane is such a slam dunk, that I say jump right in, don't mess around, and from yourmusic.com on top of the Trane/Monk at Carnegie Hall and One Down, One Up sets, get the Heavyweight Champion Atlantic Box Set, Complete Impulse Box Set, and the Complete Village Vanguard recordings.

By my calculation, that's a $131 investment for some of the best music you'll ever listen to.

Of course, you can do this in stages if necessary, but I think eventually you'll end up with all of these. But I really do think you must get the Complete Village Vanguard recordings. This is just incredible stuff that I've really never heard duplicated on any other jazz albums, and it's only about $25.

 

[Jay H]

Count me in as a Coltrane fan, however, I only have A Love Supreme and another compilation CD of his. I am a closet Jazz fan, but since I only get to listen to WBGO only so often, I don't get to hear much of it so I'm kind of the fan of "pop" Jazz, like I also have Kind of Blue from Miles Davis as well as a Charlie Parker CD.

Jay

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I started with Kind of Blue.

Cool, will have to decide what to get.

 

[Jan H]

Kind of Blue is the 'Sgt. Pepper' of jazz. Pretty much a must-own for any jazz collector. But several recordings of his are considered indispensable in their own right:

A Love Supreme
Soultrane
My Favorite Things
Giant Steps



are the ones I'd get first to start your Coltrane collection. I'd avoid 'Ascension' and 'Crescent,' as they are just too 'out there' for my tastes. He was off on his own tangent with those (even for Trane). Just this last year saw the release of 'Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall.' Nobody knew this recording existed until some guy found the master tapes a year or so ago in the Carnegie Hall archives. It is the jazz equivalent of finding the Dead Sea scrolls. Phenomenal recording, great performances. Pick this one up, too, and you won't be disappointed.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

OK, I'm starting with the single disc Vangard CD, and the Coltrane/Monk CD. And then go from there.

Would Kenny G be someone to look into as well?

 

[Philip Hamm]

Exactly those CDs in exactly that order. And I'd throw in Cannonball Adderly's "Somethin' Else" for good measure though Coltrane isn't on it. Many of these are available in one of a host of high-def audio formats and they sound amazing. I've got "Kind of Blue" and "A Love Supreme" on SACD, "Blue Train" on 12" LP record, and "Somethin' Else" on 96/24 DAD.

 

[PaulDA]

Ballads is a MUST HAVE as well.

Live at the Plaza, with Miles Davis, is a great performance (sonics--even on SACD--are mediocre, but the intensity more than makes up for it).

In fact, if John Coltrane's name appears on it, buy it. It's that simple.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I would start with Blue Trane and any of the Atlantic sides as they are the most accesible to Jazz Newbies w/out being too mellow. On Impulse I would listen to the Village Vanguard shows, Ballads, basically anything he recorded in the late 50's to 1962.

Then you can get it Love Supreme and his more further out explorations. I wouldn't start with the disonant stuff because I have scared people away from Jazz that way.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I have these on my "list" after the two live ones, I'll have to look in Blue Trane now.

Dang, no one took the bait on my Kenny G question.

 

[Bob Turnbull]

Came "this" close...

The recommendations above are the way to go for sure, but I also like Ole whose 18 minute title track has a groove that doesn't let up for the whole tune.

One Down, One Up is on my wishlist and I've just added the Monk/Coltrane Carnegie hall disc.

 

[Bren_Chris]

I've put up my own jazz review website recently, and it's got plenty of Coltrane reviews:

www.jazzshelf.org

My favorite title of his is the Africa/Brass sessions, followed by Coltrane's Sound and probably Sun Ship.

 

[John Titan]

Any one of Coltranes best of albums are good. You never know what songs you'll like so it's all an experiment.

BTW- One of my favorites is Joe Henderson. He played with a lot of the same musicians as Coltrane/Davis. A lot more melodic in playing than Coltrane. I love Cotrane, but sometime a little too improvisational.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

OK, I wanted to post an update, sort of also asking for any direction from that.

Got the Village Vanguard (single disc) and the Monk/Coltrane disc. Both are good, but I kind of prefer the "out-there-ed-ness" more of the Vanguard disc. More in your face, more ... liberal, more wild, etc. (More odd time signatures, and out of key playing?)

Any different suggestions based on that? I'm doing the YourMusic.com thing, and I have Love Supreme and Favorite Things coming in the next 2 months.

Also, I got a 4 disc Dave Brubeck compilation as a gift. Any thoughts on him vs Coltrane?

I am just now discovering, that just as there's some rock and roll I very much like, and some I don't, within the big genre of "jazz" (and then I'm also getting into the blues lately too), there will be similarly some stuff I'll like more than others.

 

[Brian L]

I am pretty much in the same boat that you are in, although perhaps a bit further down the stream of "disvovering serious jazz".

If you like odd time signatures, and you already have some Brubeck, I would check to see if you have the tracks from "Time Out". I guaranty that you have heard "Take Five" before. If not, its another easy $5.99 at yourmusic.com. And its HDCD encoded, if you are so equipped (although not labelled as such).

In my journey in to serious jazz, I would say that I have liked everything by Coltrane that I have tried. My most recent was "My Favorite Things". Once you hear it, Trane will forever erase the memory of "The Sound of Music".

As for Miles, I was good up to and including "In a Silent Way". Taking the next step to "Bitches Brew" left me cold. I keep hearing that it takes time to appreciate BB....well, I am afraid that I just don't have that kind of time. But, "Silent Way" is cool because it was an initial step toward what would come to be known as fusion, but it is not loaded down with wankery like Mahavishnu Orchestra stuff.

If you have SACD (pretty sure you do) there is a Sonny Rollins disc at yourmusic called "Tenor Madness". Some killer playing there.

Brian