This rendition of "Body And Soul," the Johnny Green standard that has served as a proving ground for jazz improvisers since Coleman Hawkins's legendary 1939 recording, appears on Coltrane's Sound, recorded on October 24, 1960, at Atlantic Studios. In a departure from the typical treatment of this iconic ballad, the performance places McCoy Tyner's piano solo before Coltrane's tenor saxophone statement. Tyner delivers a full chorus of deeply harmonic improvisation, his sophisticated reharmonizations and lush voicings offering a fresh perspective on what was already one of the most recorded songs in jazz. Coltrane enters for a brief but potent quarter-chorus statement, his tenor sound thick and probing as he compresses a wealth of musical information into a compact solo space. The performance is set in D-flat major at a slow swing tempo, allowing both improvisers to luxuriate in the song's rich harmonic architecture. With Steve Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums providing sensitive accompaniment, this version of "Body And Soul" demonstrates the Coltrane quartet's ability to find new meaning in the jazz canon's most established material while maintaining the emotional depth the song demands.
