Coltrane - John Coltrane

Coltrane is an early leader date by John Coltrane, recorded on May 31, 1957 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio and released on Prestige Records. The session uses two different groups: a quintet with trumpeter Johnnie Splawn, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Albert Heath on some tracks, and a smaller group with pianist Red Garland replacing Waldron and no horns on others. The six-track program mixes Coltrane originals like "Straight Street" and "Chronic Blues" with standards including "Violets for Your Furs" and "Time Was." Recorded during the same year Coltrane joined both the Miles Davis Quintet and Thelonious Monk's quartet, the album documents the tenor saxophonist at an early stage of his development as a leader — his tone is already commanding, but the extended harmonic explorations that would define his later work are still emerging. "Bakai," a Calvin Massey composition, became a piece Coltrane returned to in subsequent years. The presence of Shihab's baritone saxophone on the quintet tracks adds a tonal depth unusual in Coltrane's discography. The album is one of several Coltrane recorded for Prestige in 1957, a prolific year that also produced sessions later released as Lush Life, Traneing In, and other titles.