John Coltrane
Tenor Sax Solo on
Angelica

About

John Coltrane's tenor saxophone solo on Duke Ellington's "Angelica" is the only solo on this track from the 1962 Duke Ellington and John Coltrane album. He takes two choruses of the unusually long 56-bar AABA form at 200 BPM in B-flat, navigating the extended structure with the melodic imagination and harmonic sophistication that characterized his work during this period. The 56-bar form provides significantly more harmonic territory per chorus than a standard 32-bar tune, and Coltrane uses the additional space to develop ideas with patience and structural awareness across both choruses.

John Coltrane was 35 to 36 years old at the time.