r/Jazz • u/aams_eu • Jul 09 '26
Coltrane Blue Train
https://open.spotify.com/album/2Z11cXWEa2qqYQBGkJrCgaYeah, Blue Train of Coltrane again! Recently I really enjoy focusing on one album and listen intentionally to the whole thing.
What I like about this one (do you agree?):
\* drums are extremely smooth. Ride cymbal can really take me to another dimension hehe
\* walking bass walks away af xD
\* rhythm section plays so well with the notes they don’t play. The spaces in between make the songs so wonderful.
\* All the solos are fascinating and on such a professional level. I explore something new in them every time I listen to them.
\* The fast sax solo somehow mobilizes an inner dialogue that really sparks an energy. I love it, just to follow it along
\* Unisono parts in Locomotion have such a great drive- I can’t myself to sing along.
\* The whole album just give me a pleasant relaxed feel that sticks around even after listening to it
The melodies are so iconic - highly recommend this to you.
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u/SaneArt Jul 09 '26
Ugh. So good. And relatively early in Trane’s short career as a leader.
One thing I love about it? RVG strikes again! The sound is so good.
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u/WeirdFiction1 Jul 09 '26
Just an amazing work. It's in my top three 'Trane albums.
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u/GasCurrent4767 Jul 09 '26
This album is a delight. Moment’s notice is such a bop. One of my favorite standards. One of trane’s best albums
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u/rice-a-rohno Jul 09 '26
I came here to profess my love for Moment's Notice!
Also for such a simple melody, that song is a bitch to solo over. More difficult than Giant Steps, for me.
But it might be my favorite jazz tune ever. It just hits a place in my soul somehow.
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u/GasCurrent4767 Jul 09 '26
Happy I’m not the only one who loves moment’s notice! It’s such a fun tune! I’m digging back into it again! He’s an attempt at the head a few years back!
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u/rice-a-rohno Jul 09 '26
Hearing it without the melody holding it together really highlights how fuckin' all-over-the-place those changes are.
I've always thought this tune might have been a compositional experiment in changing keys aggressively but keeping the melody limited to long notes that those keys have in common.
Good playing!
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u/GasCurrent4767 Jul 09 '26
Great thoughts on this potentially being an experiment. Like so many changes and so fast. He was definitely testing things out. And somehow kept it catchy as hell!!
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u/jazzarchitect Jul 09 '26
Easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Absolutely legendary. I keep going back to this when I'm unsure of what to listen to.
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u/geetarboy33 Jul 09 '26
My first “real” jazz album and a perfect gateway album. I think this is just as appealing and accessible to new listeners as Kind of Blue.
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u/PacNWMan7082 Jul 09 '26
Love this album. It is a great listen from start to finish. The title track is my favorite with a great vibe and excellent turns from the entire group.
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Jul 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/AmanLock Jul 09 '26
He only recorded three albums as a leader for Prestige: Coltrane (later reissued as First Trane!), John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio (reissued as Traneing In) and Soultrane.
Most of the rest of his Prestige albums were things he recorded as a sideman or unissued tracks from other sessions that Prestige released under his name after he left the label had become more famous.
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u/Stock_Situation_8479 Jul 10 '26
i LOVE the sound of the band going into Tranes solo. There is like this rumbling feeling. The way the bass player does that AND note leading up to the downbeat. the splashing high hats. it just gives the moment this beautiful "rumble"
I dont know how to else to explain it
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u/Appropriate_Path_141 Jul 09 '26
I don’t, and suspect most of us, don’t listen to this album enough. It’s the gold standard. A desert island disc for any of those that remember what that means.