| "Central Park West" | |
|---|---|
| Composition by John Coltrane | |
| from the album Coltrane's Sound | |
| Released | June 1964 |
| Studio | Atlantic |
| Genre | Jazz, ballad |
| Length | 4:16 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Composer(s) | John Coltrane |
| Producer(s) | Nesuhi Ertegün |
Central Park West is a jazz standard by American saxophonist John Coltrane. It first appeared on his 1964 studio album Coltrane's Sound. [1]
Central Park West was included in Coltrane's Sound, a studio album recorded at Atlantic Studios during the sessions for My Favorite Things. The album was assembled after Coltrane had stopped recording for the label and was under contract to Impulse! Records. Like Prestige and Blue Note Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew during the 1960s, Atlantic used unissued recordings and released them without either Coltrane's input or approval.
The song is a 10-bar form in B major that is played like a ballad.
| BΔ7 / E-7 A7 | DΔ7 / B♭-7 E♭7 |
| A♭Δ7 / G-7 C7 | FΔ7 / C♯-7 F♯7 |
| BΔ7 / E-7 A7 | DΔ7 / C♯-7 F♯7 |
| BΔ7 | C♯-7/B [note 1] |
| BΔ7 | C♯-7/B / C♯-7 F♯7 |
| The forward slash denotes slash notation. | |
Central Park West employs Coltrane changes. In the song, Coltrane divides the octave into four, producing an ascending cycle of minor thirds: B – D – F – Ab – B. He slightly alters the cycle’s order, so that it becomes B – D – Ab – F – B, which alternates the modulation between minor thirds and tritones. [3]