John Coltrane – Blue Train (Blue Note 75th Anniversary Vinyl LP)

John Coltrane is joined by Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones for this record, and all three had played together on an album the pianist recorded for Riverside Records, so they were already acquainted with each other’s style. The rest of the band is made up of Lee Morgan (trumpet) and Curtis Fuller (trombone), and was recorded at Van Gelder’s Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, 15 September,1957.

For the title track alone it is worth buying this record – and its value is virtually doubled by the addition of a ‘Moment’s Notice’ – Quite simply, this record is a masterpiece. So familiar is ‘Blue Train’ that it feels like a theme to some long-forgotten TV series or the soundtrack of an atmospheric movie. It is everything that makes jazz so affecting.

There are some who question this album’s integrity and the debate centres on the track, ‘Blue Train’. On the original album release, the piano solo from take 8 is spliced into the following take from the same September 1957 session to create what we have come to accept as Coltrane’s masterpiece. Along with the four Coltrane originals there is a beautiful reading of the Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer standard, ‘I’m Old Fashioned’ that is unapologetically sentimental and among Coltrane’s finest ballads – and he was a master balladeer.

PERSONNEL:

Lee Morgan - (trumpet)
Curtis Fuller - (trombone)
Jonh Coltrane - (tenor sax)
Kenny Drew - (piano)
Paul Chambers - (bass)
Philly Joe Jones - (drums)
TRACKS:

A1. Blue Train
A2. Moment's Notice
B1. Locomotion
B2. I'm Old Fashioned
B3. Lazy Bird