Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Duke Ellington - Piano [click here to see more vinyl featuring Duke Ellington]
John Coltrane - Tenor (except A3) and Soprano (A3) Saxophone [click here to see more vinyl featuring John Coltrane]
Jimmy Garrison - Bass (A2, A3, B3)
Aaron Bell - Bass (A1, B1-2, B4)
Elvin Jones - Drums (A1-3, B3) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Elvin Jones]
Sam Woodyard - Drums (B1-2, B4)
1 LP, gatefold old-style tip-on jackets
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Acoustic Sounds Series
Original Label : Impulse
Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on September 26, 1962
Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder
Produced by Bob Thiele
Remastered by Ryan K. Smith
Originally released in 1963
Reissued in 2021
Tracks:
Side A :
- In A Sentimental Mood
- Take The Coltrane
- Big Nick
Side B :
- Stevie
- My Little Brown Book
- Angelica
- The Feeling Of Jazz
Reviews
"The classic 1962 album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane showcased the rising jazz saxophone innovator performing alongside the long-established piano institution. While the pairing might have portended a dynamic clash of the musical generations, instead we got a casual, respectful, and musically generous meeting of like-minded souls. Similarly, while one might have assumed that Ellington would use his sidemen, instead producer Bob Thiele (who also produced similar albums for Ellington including pairings with Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins) chose to bring in Coltrane's own outfit for the proceedings. Consequently, the duo is backed here at various times by bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones, as well as alternates bassist Aaron Bell and drummer Sam Woodyard. The most surprising aspect of the Ellington/Coltrane date is how well suited Coltrane and his group are at playing what largely ends up being Ellington's own material. While he was certainly in the nascency of his more avant-garde period in 1962, Coltrane had a deep understanding of traditional jazz vocabulary, having played in a swing band in the Navy in the 1940s and studied the style of artists like Hawkins and Ben Webster while coming up in Philadelphia. Similarly, though an icon of the big-band era by the 1960s, Ellington had been on the upswing of a career resurgence ever since his dynamic performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, later released as Ellington at Newport. His meeting with Coltrane was emblematic of his renewed creativity and was one of several albums he recorded in his latter life with theretofore unexpected artists, not the least of which his other 1962 date, Money Jungle with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach. Here, Ellington and Coltrane play a handful of well-known Ellington book numbers, including a supremely lyrical "In a Sentimental Mood" and a soulful, half-lidded version of Billy Strayhorn's "My Little Brown Book." Ellington even supplied the brisk original "Take the Coltrane," allowing plenty of room for Coltrane to let loose with knotty, angular lines." Duke Ellington & John Coltrane Review by Matt Collar
"In reality, the record amounts to 'Coltrane Plays Ellington' (plus one Coltrane original) because the tenor man is the whole show — and what a show it is. Only Coltrane could be as 'fiercely tender,' and there's no better forum for his sensitive side than the music of Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, who contributes the album's true vertex, 'My Little Brown Book.' The rhythm section alternates between Duke's and Trane's, each adding a different texture to the proceedings. Ellington is wise enough to appreciate the nature of the session, and he is quite content to feed chords in service of the young master--proving the old master's open mind and good taste. Hearing Coltrane seize 'In a Sentimental Mood' is thanks enough." — Marc Greilsamer
At a gathering of Ellington band alumni organized by Jazz at Lincoln Center, bassist John Lamb recalled the sessions for Duke Ellington & John Coltrane: "There was no music on that whole date. Nobody had a chart. We came in and we were standing there, waiting to see what would happen. 'Trane would go and sit on the piano bench with Duke. They didn't talk, but Duke would be singing ... and 'Trane would go ... Then, after they did that for a few minutes, they got up. 'Trane would go to his microphone, Duke would start playing, and the rhythm section, we had to do for ourselves, you know. That's it. He didn't even tell you the key. He could communicate without words, and 'Trane could hear it." On "Take the Coltrane," the two play in a quartet of Coltrane's bandmates of the day, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones (Ellington men Lamb and drummer Sam Woodyard also played on the album). — JazzIz Magazine
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,59 / 5