In March 1960, while on tour in Europe, Miles Davis purchased a soprano saxophone for Coltrane. While the instrument had been used in the early days of jazz (notably by Sidney Bechet) it had become rare by the 1950s with the exception of Steve Lacy. Intrigued by its capabilities, Coltrane began playing it at his summer club dates.
After leaving the Davis band, Coltrane, for his first regular bookings at New York’s Jazz Gallery in the summer of 1960, assembled the first version of the John Coltrane Quartet. The lineup settled by autumn with McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Sessions the week before Halloween at Atlantic Studios yielded the track “Village Blues” for Coltrane Jazz and the entirety of this album along with the tracks that Atlantic later assembled into Coltrane Plays the Blues (1962) and Coltrane’s Sound (1964).
According to Lewis Porter’s biography, Coltrane described “My Favorite Things” as “my favorite piece of all those I have recorded”…read more.
Album Data
Released: March, 1961
Recorded: October, 1960
Record Label: Atlantic Records
Location Recorded: Atlantic Studios, New York
Producer: Nesuhi Ertegun
Album Length: 40 min / 25 sec
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