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Before recording his first solo session as a leader in May 1957, John Coltrane had already established his mastery of the saxophone as an in-demand sideman. He'd previously appeared on albums by Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, Johnny Hodges, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis; even after "graduating" to leader status, he continued to appear on albums by his many friends. Now, Craft Recordings is collecting the best of Coltrane the sideman on a new collection. Another Side of John Coltrane, due on CD, LP, and digital platforms on August 20, features his appearances on sessions from Davis, Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Red Garland, Tadd Dameron, and Art Taylor.
Another Side of John Coltrane will be released in the following formats:
- CD;
- 2LP black vinyl;
- 2LP yellow vinyl exclusive to Craft Recordings (limited to 500 copies);
- 2LP opaque gray vinyl exclusive to Barnes and Noble (limited to 500 copies); and
- Download/streaming.
All of the vinyl versions will feature two bonus tracks: "Nutty" from Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (rec. 1957, rel. 1959) and "Birks' Works" from Soul Junction by The Red Garland Quartet featuring John Coltrane and Donald Byrd (rec. 1957, rel. 1960). The first single off the new collection, "Oleo" from Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, was recorded in 1956 and released in 1958 on Prestige Records. It features Coltrane on tenor saxophone alongside Davis on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.
Coltrane's stint with Miles Davis afforded the young musician the breakthrough he had been seeking. The trumpeter's First Great Quintet inspired countless jazz groups to follow, and for Coltrane, it was a chance to develop his own, highly personal style. In addition to the Sonny Rollins-penned "Oleo," the collection features the Quintet's "Airegin," another Rollins tune. The 1956 recording was first issued on Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (1957). Davis is also the leader on Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight" from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (rec. 1956, rel. 1959) and Frank Churchill and Larry Morey's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs standard "Someday My Prince Will Come" from 1961's Columbia Records release of the same name. While Coltrane was already established as a leader by then, he returned to his old friend Davis' fold for two tracks on that classic album.
Coltrane's sessions with pianist-composer Thelonious Monk are prominently featured here. As well as "Nutty," the set boasts "Monk's Mood," an alternate take of "Epistrophy," and "Trinkle, Tinkle." (All tracks were recorded in 1957.) Coltrane joined Sonny Rollins for the title track of Rollins' Tenor Madness LP (1956) which is the only known recording of the two saxophone heroes playing together. Selections with Tadd Dameron and Art Taylor round out the set.
Jazz historian Doug Ramsey writes in his new liner notes that these tracks allow listeners the chance to hear Coltrane's "ceaseless inventiveness as he expands his harmonic palette and takes increasingly greater chances in developing his solos." Another Side of John Coltrane has been produced by Nick Phillips and mastered by Paul Blakemore, with lacquers cut by Clint Holley at Well Made Music. Look for this set from the developing saxophone titan on August 20 from Craft Recordings. You'll find the pre-order links and track listing below.
John Coltrane, Another Side of John Coltrane (Craft Recordings, 2021)
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Barnes and Noble Exclusive 2LP: Barnesandnoble.com
Craft Recordings Exclusive 2LP: CraftRecordings.com
Side A:
- Sonny Rollins Quartet: Tenor Madness
- Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants: 'Round Midnight
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Oleo
Side B:
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Airegin
- Tadd Dameron with John Coltrane: Soultrane
- Art Taylor: C.T.A.
- Thelonious Monk: Monk's Mood
Side C:
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Epistrophy (Alternate Take)
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Trinkle, Tinkle
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Nutty (*) (from Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Jazzland JLP-46, 1961)
- Red Garland Quintet featuring John Coltrane and Donald Byrd: Birks' Works (*) (from Soul Junction, Prestige PRLP-7181, 1960)
Side D:
- The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane: Billie's Bounce
- Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come
(*) Exclusive to vinyl edition
CD/Digital: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Sonny Rollins Quartet: Tenor Madness
- Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants: 'Round Midnight
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Oleo
- The Miles Davis Quintet: Airegin
- Tadd Dameron with John Coltrane: Soultrane
- Art Taylor: C.T.A.
- Thelonious Monk: Monk's Mood
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Epistrophy (Alternate Take)
- Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: Trinkle, Tinkle
- The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane: Billie's Bounce
- Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come
Track 1 from Tenor Madness, Prestige PRLP 7047, 1956
Track 2 from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, Prestige PRLP 7150, 1959
Track 3 from Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige PRLP 7129, 1958
Track 4 from Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige PRLP 7094, 1957
Track 5 from Mating Call, Prestige PRLP 7070, 1957
Track 6 from Taylor's Wailers, Prestige 7117, 1957
Track 7 from Thelonious Himself, Riverside RLP 12-235, 1957
Track 8 TBD
Track 9 from Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Jazzland JLP-46, 1961
Track 10 from Dig It!, Prestige PR 7229, 1962
Track 11 from Someday My Prince Will Come, Columbia CS 8456, 1961
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hi Joe, I admit, I am no arithmetician, but it appears the digital release is short two tracks - I could be mistaken - but if so we’re you able to learn the rationale for this choice?
I'd wager it's correct. Back in the day, when CD was being pushed to replace vinyl and cassette, there were bonus tracks on CDs that weren't available on the vinyl or cassette. Now, with vinyl being pushed (and CDs being pushed OUT), it stands to reason that they'd give the bonuses to the vinyl release.
Personally, it annoys me no end. And I think the whole vinyl resurgence is ridiculous.
It is, in fact. Especially when you consider that most vinyl releases today are sourced from digital, and there's absolutely no way a digital source is going to sound better on vinyl than on cd. It's simply phisics. It's just a matter of definition of the media.
Streaming isn't a problem as you can already stream this compilation/playlist 😉 :
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3VKsxRER5aamYt0XLCYtUX?si=yPmxHEidQ9SopifTNw8oxg
Hi Philip, You are correct that the vinyl version has two more songs. I believe that Craft wished to keep the CD format to one disc, or 80 minutes' worth of music max, while a 2-LP format was necessary for the vinyl iteration. Four sides of vinyl offer considerably more space, hence the inclusion of the two additional tracks to fill some of that extra space. As has been pointed out here, all of these tracks are readily available on CD and digital, so I don't consider the two vinyl-only bonuses to be affronts against the CD-buying audience. I'd rather those songs appear than, say, an etching on Side Four. That's my best guess, anyway. 🙂
Thanks for the insight, Joe. At the same time, the actual production cost of adding a second disc - something I had guessed you might advocate given the site's name - is relatively trivial, suggesting that a double disc release would allow for the complete compilation in a format permitting reasonable playing times per disc, in fact emulating the LP length experience. Note for example that with Neil Young's Archive II release many of the discs play for about as long as a single LP, and I have to imagine that is for (Neil's specific) aesthetic reasons...
The bottom line here is record companies, after years of losing the battle, are finally getting what they want: to control their media distribution. Streaming allows them to do that by controlling what’s available, for how long, and removing it at will. Vinyl allows them to give the purchaser a feeling of “ownership” without the possibility of bit-perfect rips ending up pirated. Win-win for them.
Next to go will be digital downloads…mark my words. Streaming is their endgame.
Hi Philip, I know all too well that advocating for any CD releases whatsoever has become an uphill battle in this streaming and vinyl-centric world in which we now live. Craft could have gone an even easier route and released this compilation on vinyl only as happens so often nowadays; I'm happy to see a CD release even if it drops a couple of tracks that most Coltrane fans likely already own. I do believe the two "bonus tracks" are just that: bonuses to fill up space, and help justify the much more expensive cost of, a 2-LP vinyl set. That said, long live second (compact) discs! 🙂
It's a bizarre release by the way. A jazz fan will consider all of his work with Miles as a must have, and probably already own these. Same goes for the tracks with Monk.
For somebody new to Coltrane... yes I guess it may be an entry point as good as any other, particularly for those who are in awe, or a bit freightened, by his later, more advanced work. It still resonates as a bit odd to me.
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