I’ve heard good things about John Coltrane from this board and the people at the music store yesterday. Which of his works do you suggest I start out listening to with respect to the fact that I have barely gotten into jazz?
Unless you are feeling particuarly adventuresome, you might want to try Blue Train. To hear more intensity, check out Giant Steps. There is a compilation called something like “THe best of Coltrane and Miles Davis” that looks pretty nice.
You may enjoy Summertime- it is a little more out and features soprano saxophone (which sounds like a completely different instrument then when Kenny G. plays).
Those are some of my favorites, but Amazon lists almost 300.
JC
I recommend everything but “The Jupiter Variations.” That’s a tad heavy for a jazz novice, I think.
Anything that Coltrane made with McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums is worth listening to.
If you like music on the soft side, I highly recommend an album called “The Gentle Side of John Coltrane.”
Enjoy because he was one of the best musicians of this or any other century.
A Love Supreme is an amazing album. It’s very intense. Crescent is also very good. It was recorded around the same time as A Love Supreme. If you’re a jazz novice, you should stay away from his later stuff. It’s difficult to listen to if you don’t listen to much jazz.
What you want to start with are albums from Coltrane’s Atlantic Records period. Try either Giant Steps or My Favorite Things. If you like those, then take the plunge and get A Love Supreme.
And, of course, if you don’t have Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue (which features Coltrane) then you must get that as well.
Actually, I think that Coltrane was a bit overrated.
Some of the live records, e.g., at the village vanguard, in sweden, are wonderful. All from 1961-4.
But, there were many others who had a much harder, more challenging sound
Im a big fan of my favorite things.
because im a big Elvin Jones fan
Its really easy to get into too.
Giant Steps is the best to start with, then move on to his more experimental stuff. A Love Supreme is considered his masterpiece, but it’s not real accessible if you’re not used to free form jazz.
coltrane is good, but do you wanna hear something freash and very intense? do you? well, since you’re dying to know try something from a trio named EST…yes, simple as that…the name again…
EST “strange place for snow”
yep…those guys are fucking amazing…you can find it at any music store…millenium…best buy, at the mall whatever…but seriosly, check them out, some of the stuff is very laid back, no sax, trumpets and the like though…only bass, piano, keyboard, drums, but very, very intense…
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman is a beautiful album and a very accessible one for the jazz novice as well. If you’re looking for pure instrumental, then I second Blue Train.
I liked Atlantic’s Coltrane Jazz, which was actually the first of his records that I bought. (Yes, records.)
I’d also recommend My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme as good jumping off points.
I’d stay away from the bargain bin Coltrane collections you sometimes find from odd labels. Often these are alternative recordings or live recordings and not necessarily up to par with his mainstream releases.
An interesting back door approach I’d suggest would be to check out Love, Devotion and Surrender by John McLaughlin & Carlos Santana. A much overlooked album by a couple of outstanding Coltrane devotees.
Thanks so much for the replies! I’m sure to not go wrong with this knowledge behind me…
Keep ‘em comin’…
Crescent is a very beautiful and somewhat unique Coletrane recording.
My favorite Coltrane CDs are My Favorite Things, Giant Steps, and Blue Train. Also of course there is Kind of Blue, which is with Miles Davis and a few other big jazz names(possibly the best jazz CD ever- if you don’t have this already I’d get this as an intro to jazz- Miles and Coltrane are the two biggest names in jazz). People rank A Love Supreme very highly, but I’d steer clear of it (and his other free jazz CDs- especially ‘Ascension’). It’s good, but not for a first-timer.
If you want a good intro to jazz (and Coltrane) get Kind of Blue. If you want something catchier, I always found My Favorite Things more listenable than other jazz CDs. And it never really gets too complicated or too boring.
Love Supreme and Giant Steps are probably his two most well-known albums. For a beginner, I would definitely recommend Giant Steps over Love Supreme. I would also recommend My Favorite Things and Live at Birdland.
Damn, I forgot half the point of posting… to brag about having received a big sweaty bear hug from Elvin Jones after a show. He’s a sweet old guy. Hey, has anyone ever noticed that you can hear him grunting on some of the recordings?
I haven’t heard his grunting per se, but it’s a more common phenomenon than one might think, grunting while drumming. I’m always trying to keep from grunting; it seems to stem from involuntarily humming the melody.
I’m not a Coltrane buff by any stretch of the imagination, but I seem to be going through a bit of a jazz phase (Sun Ra, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, John Zorn … spot the odd one out ). To throw in a suggestion from out of left field, the first Coltrane record I ever owned is called First Meditations, and is an early version of his record Meditations (I believe).
I’ve never heard the better known record, but this one is very good - it swings and shakes the sky out when it really gets going. If you get to like the crazier side to his music, there’s a great double CD on Impulse called The Major Works which has both takes of the infamous, 40 odd minute long Ascension, as well as three other long, way out tracks. I just finished listening to it, and although I might not be a typical listener, I find it very relaxing to have on in the background while working or reading.
While we’re on the jazz thread, can any experts give their opinion on whether it’s worth getting the Ornette Coleman Beauty … 6CD box set (it’s available here for the equivalent of about $US65) - note the beginning of this post to see what I’ve been enjoying lately.
[note: make that $US75 - I hadn’t noticed that the Aussie dollar had picked up so much] </hijack>