John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July or August 1963 [1] [2] | |||
Recorded | March 7, 1963 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder (Englewood Cliffs) | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 31:11 | |||
Label | Impulse! A-40 | |||
Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
John Coltrane chronology | ||||
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Johnny Hartman chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Baltimore Sun | (favourable) [4] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [6] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [7] |
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is a studio album by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman which was released by Impulse! Records in July or August 1963. [1] [2] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. [8]
Although it is often reported that Coltrane and Hartman had known each other since their days playing with Dizzy Gillespie's band in the late 1940s, their time in the band never overlapped. Coltrane might have heard Hartman sing at a 1950 Apollo Theater performance at which they shared the stage. [9] Hartman is the only vocalist with whom the saxophonist would record as a leader. Initially when producer Bob Thiele approached Hartman with Coltrane's request that the two record together Hartman was hesitant as he did not consider himself a jazz singer and did not think he and Coltrane would complement one another musically. [10] However, Thiele encouraged Hartman to go see Coltrane perform at Birdland in New York City to see if something could be worked out. Hartman did so, and after the club closed he, Coltrane and Coltrane's pianist, McCoy Tyner, went over some songs together. On March 7, 1963, Coltrane and Hartman had decided on 10 songs for the record album, but en route to the studio they heard Nat King Cole on the radio performing "Lush Life", and Hartman immediately decided that song had to be included in their album. [11]
The recording was made on March 7, 1963, at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Hartman later said that each song was done in only one take, except for "You Are Too Beautiful", which required two takes because Elvin Jones dropped one of his drumsticks during the first take. [10]
Jazz writer Michael Cuscuna explains the existence of two different versions released from these tapes: "At a later date, Coltrane decided to overdub some additional obbligato saxophone phrases behind Hartman's vocals on 'My One and Only Love', 'Lush Life' and 'You Are Too Beautiful'. A new master was made by Rudy Van Gelder, who added some additional echo to the three tracks. Although the first release of the album used the original master without Coltrane's additional obbligatos, it was later substituted with the new master." [12]
In 2005, the raw tapes were reviewed by jazz archivist Barry Kernfeld, who documented there were actually complete alternate takes for all six songs that he considered "absolutely riveting." [13] Until clear ownership of these tapes is established between the Coltrane family and Universal Music, there are no plans for their release.
The album was announced on July 6, 1963, on Billboard [14] and released toward the end of the month on Impulse!, produced by Thiele. It has become a classic ballad jazz album, and the renditions of "Lush Life", "My One and Only Love", and "They Say It's Wonderful" are considered definitive. [15] [16] [17] Scott Yanow's five-star review for AllMusic describes the album as "essential for all jazz collections". [3]
Kurt Elling's 2009 album Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman was recorded in tribute to John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "They Say It's Wonderful" (Irving Berlin) | 5:20 |
2. | "Dedicated to You" (Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, Hy Zaret) | 5:32 |
3. | "My One and Only Love" (Guy Wood, Robert Mellin) | 4:55 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
4. | "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn) | 5:29 |
5. | "You Are Too Beautiful" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) | 5:36 |
6. | "Autumn Serenade" (Peter DeRose, Sammy Gallop) | 4:19 |
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
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German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] | 57 |
Alfred McCoy Tyner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy award winner. Unlike many of the jazz keyboardists of his generation, Tyner very rarely incorporated electric keyboards or synthesizers into his work. Tyner has been widely imitated, and is one of the most recognizable and influential pianists in jazz history.
James Emory Garrison was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
My Favorite Things is the seventh studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in March 1961 on Atlantic Records. It was the first album to feature Coltrane playing soprano saxophone. An edited version of the title track became a hit single that gained popularity in 1961 on radio. The record became a major commercial success.
Impressions is an album of live and studio recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane, released by Impulse! Records in July 1963.
Crescent is a 1964 studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released by Impulse! as A-66. Alongside Coltrane on tenor saxophone, the album features McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones (drums) playing original Coltrane compositions.
John Maurice Hartman was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his collaboration in 1963 with saxophonist John Coltrane, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, a landmark album for both him and Coltrane.
"Lush Life" is a jazz standard that was written by Billy Strayhorn from 1933 to 1936. It was performed publicly for the first time by Strayhorn and vocalist Kay Davis with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on November 13, 1948.
Ballads is a jazz album by John Coltrane released in January 1963 by Impulse! Records. It was recorded in December 1961 and 1962, and released with catalogue number A-32 (mono) and AS-32 (stereo). Critic Gene Lees stated that the quartet had never played the tunes before. "They arrived with music-store sheet music of the songs" and just before the recordings, they "would discuss each tune, write out copies of the changes they'd use, semi-rehearse for a half hour and then do it". Each piece was recorded in one take, except for "All or Nothing at All". In 2008, the album was a recipient of the Grammy Hall of Fame award.
Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in February 1962 on Impulse Records. It is the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, as well as the first Coltrane live album to be issued. In contrast to his previous album for Impulse!, this one generated much turmoil among both critics and audience alike with its challenging music.
Coltrane is a studio album by jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer John Coltrane. It was recorded in April and June 1962, and released in July of that same year by Impulse! Records. At the time, it was overlooked by the music press, but has since come to be regarded as a significant recording in Coltrane's discography. When reissued on CD, it featured a Coltrane composition dedicated to his musical influence "Big Nick" Nicholas that the saxophonist recorded for his Duke Ellington collaboration Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1963). The composition "Tunji" was written by Coltrane in dedication to the Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji.
Live at Birdland is an album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane featuring both live and in-studio components, originally released on January 9, 1964, on the Impulse! label. Similarly to Impressions, despite the album's title, only three of its tracks were actually recorded live at the Birdland club; the remainder are studio recordings. Among them is "Alabama", a tribute to four black children killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, a terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama perpetrated by white supremacists.
The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Recordings is a 1998 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane.
The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is a box set of recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane, issued posthumously in 1997 by Impulse! Records, catalogue IMPD4-232. It collects all existing recordings from performances by the John Coltrane Quintet at the Village Vanguard in early November, 1961. Five selections had been issued during Coltrane's lifetime on the albums Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions. Additional tracks had been issued posthumously on the albums The Other Village Vanguard Tapes, Trane's Modes and From the Original Master Tapes.
Afro Blue Impressions is an album of a performance by jazz musician John Coltrane that was recorded live in 1963. The album was originally released many years later, in 1977, on the Pablo label, as a double LP.
The European Tour is a posthumous album by jazz musician John Coltrane released in 1980 on the Pablo label. The tracks were recorded on October 22, 1963 at the Koncerthuset in Stockholm, Sweden during a two-week European tour which was produced by Norman Granz, and which included concerts in Oslo, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Milan, Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt/Main, Paris, Berlin, Munich, and Stuttgart. Additional tracks from the Stockholm and Berlin concerts appear on Afro Blue Impressions. Tracks from Stockholm, Berlin, Paris, and Stuttgart are featured on the 2001 Pablo compilation Live Trane: The European Tours.
The Paris Concert is a posthumously-released live album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Despite the album title, some sources assert it was recorded at a concert in Berlin on 2 November 1963. Other music from this concert was issued on Afro Blue Impressions. Others claim it was indeed recorded in Paris, on 17 November 1962.
Coltrane for Lovers is a compilation album of recordings by American jazz saxophonist-composer John Coltrane, released posthumously on January 23, 2001, by Impulse! and Verve Records. The 11 tracks compiled for the album are all romantic ballads from Coltrane's early years with Impulse!, being recorded during December 1961 to April 1963 at engineer Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Dominated by Coltrane's classic quartet, the sessions also included collaborations with vocalist Johnny Hartman and pianist Duke Ellington.
McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington is the sixth album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. It was recorded in December 1964 and released on the Impulse! label in 1965. It features performances by Tyner with his John Coltrane bandmates: bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. Percussionists Willie Rodriguez and Johnny Pacheco appear on four of the tracks. It would be Tyner's last effort for the label, before signing with Blue Note.
Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album is a studio album recorded by saxophonist John Coltrane for Impulse! Records that was first released in 2018. The recordings were made in 1963 during Coltrane's Classic Quartet period and lost for decades.
Dear Old Stockholm is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane released by GRP and Impulse! in 1993. The music, which was recorded on April 29, 1963 and May 26, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, features Coltrane's quartet with Roy Haynes substituting for Elvin Jones on drums.