| Special Quartet | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Recorded | March 26, 1990 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 52:20 | |||
| Label | DIW/Columbia | |||
| Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
| David Murray chronology | ||||
| ||||
Special Quartet is an album by the American saxophonist David Murray. [1] [2] It was released on the DIW/Columbia label. [3] It features six quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, McCoy Tyner, and Elvin Jones. [4] The album was produced by Bob Thiele. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [6] |
| Tom Hull | A− [7] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [8] |
The Edmonton Journal wrote that "the session ... is not a rehash of Coltrane... Each number works as a blowing vehicle for Murray with a blast furnace at his back." [9]
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "A successful outing full of mutual inspiration, this CD is easily recommended." [6]
Elvin Ray Jones was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded. Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995. In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz". He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
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 jazz pianists of all time.
My Favorite Things is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was 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 the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released through Impulse! Records in July 1963.
Transition is an album of music by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded in 1965 but released posthumously only in 1970. As its title indicates, Transition was a bridge between classic quartet recordings like A Love Supreme and the more experimental works of Coltrane's last years.
JuJu is the fifth album by American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter. It was released in July 1965 by Blue Note Records. It features a rhythm section of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones, all of whom had worked extensively with Shorter's fellow tenor saxophonist John Coltrane.
Crescent is a studio album by the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released in July 1964 through the label Impulse!. Alongside Coltrane on tenor saxophone, the album features McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones (drums) playing original Coltrane compositions.
The Real McCoy is the seventh album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and his first released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 21, 1967, following Tyner's departure from the John Coltrane Quartet. It features performances by Tyner with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones. Producer Alfred Lion recalls the recording session as a "pure jazz session. There is absolutely no concession to commercialism, and there's a deep, passionate love for the music embedded in each of the selections".
Meditations is a 1966 album by John Coltrane. The album was considered the "spiritual follow-up to A Love Supreme." It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxophones. This was the last Coltrane recording to feature his classic quartet lineup of himself, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner, as both Jones and Tyner would quit the band by early 1966. Sanders, Ali, Garrison and Coltrane's wife Alice would comprise his next group.
Coltrane Jazz is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in early 1961 on Atlantic Records. Most of the album features Coltrane playing with his former Miles Davis bandmates, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb during two sessions in November and December, 1959. The exception is the track "Village Blues", which was recorded October 21, 1960. "Village Blues" comes from the first recording session featuring Coltrane playing with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, who toured and recorded with Coltrane as part of his celebrated "classic quartet" from 1960 to 1965.
Live at Birdland is an album by the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane that features both live and in-studio components. It was released on January 9, 1964 through Impulse! Records. Like the earlier album Impressions, and 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.
First Meditations (for quartet) is an album by John Coltrane recorded on September 2, 1965, and posthumously released in 1977. It is a quartet version of a suite Coltrane would record as Meditations two months later with an expanded group. Along with Sun Ship, recorded a week earlier, First Meditations represents the final recordings of Coltrane's classic quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.
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.
Bye Bye Blackbird is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded on November 19, 1962 at the Konserthuset in Stockholm and released in 1981 by Pablo Records.
Newport '63 is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival, with one additional track recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961. The album features the Coltrane quartet with drummer Roy Haynes substituting for Elvin Jones.
Deep River is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label in 1988. It features seven quartet performances by Murray with Fred Hopkins, Dave Burrell and Ralph Peterson Jr.
McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington is the sixth album by American 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.
Trident is a 1975 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner (1938–2020), his eighth to be released on the Milestone label. It was recorded in February 1975 and features performances by Tyner with bassist Ron Carter and his former John Coltrane bandmate, drummer Elvin Jones (1927–2004). It is available on CD. Unusually, Tyner plays harpsichord and celesta along with piano.
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.
