John Coltrane Quartet: Crescent (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series, gatefold, 180g) [IMPULSE]

Why you'll love it

This Acoustic Sounds Series edition was mastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, in a gatefold jacket. Crescent was recorded months before A Love Supreme, all Coltrane originals, and Jimmy Garrison's widow said it was one of the two he played most.

This edition

• Verve Acoustic Sounds Series
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Mastered from the original analogue tapes
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Remastered
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in the USA

About the album

Most saxophonists, given their own album, play on every track, and preferably in every bar. On side two of Crescent, John Coltrane barely plays at all, and the record is all the better for it. Recorded on April 27 and June 1, 1964, with Rudy Van Gelder at the controls and Bob Thiele producing, it catches the classic quartet at its most patient and searching, a band so tuned in to each other that nobody needs to rush.

McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones play Coltrane originals throughout. The title track and "Wise One" are slow-burning, prayerful pieces that point straight towards A Love Supreme, and "Bessie's Blues" is a short, joyful swinger. "Lonnie's Lament" hands the spotlight to Garrison for a long, beautiful bass solo, and "The Drum Thing" is a showcase for Jones, with Coltrane's tenor and Garrison's bass framing it at either end.

The tunes have travelled. Alice Coltrane and McCoy Tyner both recorded the title track, and the SFJAZZ Collective took on four of the songs. A band leader who knows when to step back is a rare thing; we've been trying to teach it at staff meetings for years.

Also at Kops: more John Coltrane on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Impulse! / Verve (cat# B0033783-01), a reissue of the 1964 album.