Coltrane (1957 album)

For the 1962 album of the same name by John Coltrane, see Coltrane (1962 album).

Coltrane
Studio album by John Coltrane
Released	October 1957 (1957-10) [1] [2]
Recorded	May 31, 1957
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	Hard bop
Length	41:50
Label	Prestige PRLP 7105
Producer	Bob Weinstock
John Coltrane chronology
Coltrane (1957) Blue Train (1958)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
DownBeat	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[6]

Coltrane is an album by the American jazz musician John Coltrane which was released in October 1957 by Prestige Records. ^{[1] [2]} The recordings took place at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, and document Coltrane's first session as a leader. It has been reissued at times under the title of The First Trane!.

Background

As a result of his exposure as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige Records owner and producer Bob Weinstock offered Coltrane a recording contract. Dated April 9, 1957, it stipulated three albums per year at $300 per album. ^[7] Coltrane had previously recorded as a sideman, and had co-led a session with Paul Quinichette (released in 1959 as Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette ), but never as sole bandleader. ^[8]

Coltrane had been fired by Davis in April 1957 for drug abuse, and had returned to Philadelphia to end his habit. ^[9] He returned to New York City for mid-May sessions with Prestige, this one taking place the day after Memorial Day. By the summer, Coltrane would be recording with Thelonious Monk and playing as a member of Monk's quartet for the rest of the year. ^[10]

For his debut, Coltrane chose a tune by his friend Calvin Massey, in addition to three standards including the relatively obscure "Time Was". Sidemen included Paul Chambers and Red Garland from the Davis band, and Philadelphia colleagues Johnnie Splawn and Albert Heath.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Bakai"	Calvin Massey	8:44
2.	"Violets for Your Furs"	Tom Adair, Matt Dennis	6:18
3.	"Time Was"	Gabriel Luna de la Fuente, Paz Miguel Prado, Bob Russell	7:31

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Straight Street"	John Coltrane	6:21
2.	"While My Lady Sleeps"	Gus Kahn, Bronislaw Kaper	4:44
3.	"Chronic Blues"	John Coltrane	8:12

Personnel

• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
• Johnnie Splawn – trumpet on "Bakai", "Straight Street", "While My Lady Sleeps", "Chronic Blues"
• Sahib Shihab – baritone saxophone on "Bakai", "Straight Street", "Chronic Blues"
• Red Garland – piano on side one
• Mal Waldron – piano on side two
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Albert "Tootie" Heath – drums

References

1. DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013). Porter, Lewis (ed.). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 468. ISBN   9780415634632 . Retrieved January 2, 2020.
2. Parnes, Sid, ed. (October 12, 1957). "October Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box . New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 31. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
3. Coltrane at AllMusic
4. DownBeat : January 23, 1958 vol. 25, No. 2
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 284. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
7. Ben Ratliff. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. ISBN   978-0-374-12606-3, p. 34
8. Lewis Porter. John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999. ISBN   0-472-10161-7, pp. 117-8.
9. Ratliff, pp. 34-35.
10. Porter, pp. 108-9.