Category Archives: Records

John Coltrane: Traneing In

Traneing In is a 1957 album released with John Coltrane as the leader, accompanied by the Red Garland Trio, comprised of pianist Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor. This is the same year that Trane was working with Thelonious Monk, a major event in the development of his playing at that time. Here he is relaxed and blowing swinging blues with a rhythm section that certainly knows how to swing.

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John Coltrane: A Love Supreme

A Love Supreme has always been John Coltrane’s most popular album, occupying a special place in listener’s hearts almost since the day it was released. Thus it should come as no surprise that this legendary album achieved Gold status according to the Recording Industry Association of America. This is the first Coltrane recording to receive this honor, and it speaks well of the lasting influence of Coltrane and his music on a whole new generation of listeners.

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Bill Evans/Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Writing about a recording such as Everybody Digs Bill Evans can seem like an exercise in futility. Even at this early point in his recording and performing career, Evans seems to have everything in place—technique, sensitive lyricism, a way of interpreting standard material that borders on impressionism; overall, a musical conception that changed the way jazz piano was thought of, listened to, and played.

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Bill Evans/Sunday at the Village Vanguard

The Bill Evans trio had been playing together for nearly two years by the time these dates for Sunday at the Village Vanguard were recorded, but the group was under-recorded because Evans, ever the perfectionist, was reluctant to commit “final” performances of these compositions to vinyl. Fortunately, a date on June 25, 1961, is documented pretty much in its entirety on this album and the follow-up disc Waltz for Debby.

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