John Coltrane (sax)The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane (Impulse, 1975)
Just a quick small entry for today. For me Sunday is a John Coltrane day. What better way to start of a morning than pulling out a Trane record and sitting with a nice cup of coffee (or tea). A few weeks ago I pulled out rarely talked about compilation, The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane (Impulse). The Gentle Side is as the title says a collection of the more mellow, ballad-centric recordings. While most Coltrane fans will have these songs on the individual albums or even other Coltrane compilations, this collection is nice put together from a listening perspective.
The Gentle Side starts out with the beautiful recording written by the highly underrated pianist Mal Waldron, "Soul Eyes" and then proceeds through a lovely journey of romanticism. Even latter tracks such as "Wise One" and even "Welcome" (from one his last albums Transition) sit perfectly along side the earlier Impulse pieces. This is an album that really highlights the lyricism and versatility of John Coltrane. The great duets with Johnny Hartman "My One And Only Love" and Duke Ellington "In A Sentimental Mood" are also included showing Coltrane wonderful collaborative spirit. One of my favourite Trane recordings "Alabama" is also featured and while it is a very short studio version it is still pretty stellar to listening experience.
Essentially if you only own one or two John Coltrane records or even if you own everything, The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane is still a great little purchase. A wonderful companion piece to any Trane collection or a nice starter collection for new fans. The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane is a beautiful and emotionally inspection of one the major figures of Jazz. And as I mentioned before its a perfect Sunday album.