"Soul Eyes" | |
---|---|
Composition by Mal Waldron | |
from the album Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors | |
Language | English |
Recorded | March 22, 1957 |
Genre | Jazz |
Length | 17:31 |
Label | Prestige |
Composer(s) | Mal Waldron |
Producer(s) | Bob Weinstock |
"Soul Eyes" is a composition, with lyrics, written by Mal Waldron. [1] It is a 32-bar ballad that takes the song form ABAC, [2] and is written in 4/4 time. It was first recorded on March 22, 1957, for the album Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors . [3] One of the tenor saxophonists on that recording was John Coltrane, who brought the song back to attention by recording it in 1962 for his album Coltrane , when he had become more famous. This was only the second ever recording of the song, [3] which has since become "part of the basic repertory of jazz performers" – a jazz standard. [1] Waldron wrote the piece with Coltrane in mind: "I liked Coltrane's sound and I thought the melody would fit it". [4]
Since these early versions, the song has been recorded hundreds of times. [5] A vocal version is on Vanessa Rubin's debut album in 1992; [6] another comparatively rare vocal version, featuring Jeanne Lee, is available on Waldron's 1997 album entitled Soul Eyes. [7] In 2016 it became the title track of Kandace Springs' debut album. [8]
Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Waldron led his own bands and played for those led by Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy, among others. During Waldron's period as house pianist for Prestige Records in the late 1950s, he appeared on dozens of albums and composed for many of them, including writing his most famous song, "Soul Eyes", for Coltrane. Waldron was often an accompanist for vocalists, and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from April 1957 until her death in July 1959.
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. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
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Coltrane is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane which was released in October 1957 by Prestige Records. 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!.
Standard Coltrane is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane released in October 1962 by Prestige Records. It was recorded at a single recording session at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1958. This album was rereleased in 1970 as The Master with that version rereleased on CD to include the other four tunes recorded at the same 11 July session. Those other tunes had previously been released on two other albums assembled from unissued recordings.
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The Prestige Recordings is a box set by jazz musician John Coltrane.
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.
Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors is a jazz album released in November 1957 by Prestige Records. It is credited to Idrees Sulieman, Webster Young, John Coltrane and Bobby Jaspar, with Mal Waldron, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor.
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In Concert is a live album by American jazz pianist John Hicks recorded in 1984 at various locations around San Francisco and released on the Theresa label in 1986. The 1993 Evidence CD reissue added two bonus tracks.
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