"The Feeling of Jazz" is a Duke Ellington co-composition recorded for the 1962 album Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, written with Bobby Troup and George T. Simon. Coltrane delivers an expansive five-chorus tenor saxophone solo over the 20-bar form in D-flat at a relaxed medium tempo, one of his most extended improvisations on the album. The unusual 20-bar structure provides an asymmetric framework that seems to stimulate Coltrane's creativity, his solo unfolding with the narrative logic of a spoken monologue. The relaxed swing feel allows Coltrane to stretch out, exploring melodic ideas with a patience and deliberation that contrasts with the more compressed performances elsewhere on the session. Ellington's piano accompaniment is a model of sensitivity, his comping responding to every shift in Coltrane's improvisational trajectory while maintaining the harmonic foundation. The title seems programmatic: this track captures the essence of jazz as a conversational art, two master musicians listening and responding to each other in real time. The recording stands as one of the most relaxed and communicative performances from a session that consistently captured both artists at their most inspired.
