John Coltrane: Olé Coltrane (Rhino High Fidelity series, 180g) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This Rhino High Fidelity edition was cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed at Optimal Media and numbered in an edition of 5,000. Olé Coltrane is Coltrane's farewell to Atlantic, three long, modal pieces with a two-bass, two-horn front line.

This edition

• Rhino High Fidelity series
• Limited numbered edition of 5,000
• 180g vinyl
• Cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray
• Heavyweight gatefold jacket
• Obi strip
• Insert with notes by Ashley Kahn
• Stereo mix

About the album

In May 1961 John Coltrane walked into the studio with Spain on his mind and a question to answer: how far could a single modal groove carry a band, with two bassists, two horns and a flute along for the ride. The answer, it turned out, was the whole of side one.

"Olé" runs eighteen minutes on a swaying Spanish vamp, with Reggie Workman and Art Davis playing two basses at once, McCoy Tyner's piano churning underneath and Elvin Jones rolling across the drums like weather. Freddie Hubbard adds bright trumpet, and Eric Dolphy turns up on flute and alto under the name George Lane, since he was under contract elsewhere. On side two, "Dahomey Dance" leans toward West Africa with a deep, bluesy strut, and Tyner's own "Aisha" is a lovely, unhurried ballad named for his wife.

It sits right on the hinge between the Atlantic years and the Impulse! records that followed, and you can hear the bigger, freer band taking shape. Ashley Kahn's insert notes tell the rest of the story, and they're considerably more reliable than anything we'd make up.

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

Tracklist

Listen

On Atlantic / Rhino (cat# RHF1 1373), a reissue of the 1962 album.