The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (full title The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Chim Chim Cheree, Song of Praise, Nature Boy, Brazilia) is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, recorded in February and May 1965, shortly after the release of A Love Supreme.
The February and May 1965 recording sessions bracketed a period during which Coltrane’s music continued to evolve at a rapid pace, and document a time of transition. The tracks recorded on February 17 and 18 featured two bass players (Jimmy Garrison and Art Davis), and may be seen as a continuation of experiments begun by Coltrane in 1961 involving multiple basses, often with one playing arco and the other playing pizzicato. In March, Coltrane and his group played at the Half Note; recordings of some of these performances were released on Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up, about which one reviewer stated: it “captures Coltrane’s music on the cusp of major change, just weeks before embarking on the last phase of his career — during which he expunged from his music every last speck of convention,” and “documents the classic quartet near the end of its incredible run… The music reveals the band at its creative peak, reaching heights of focused intensity on every tune, stretching rhythmic and harmonic conventions to the breaking point.”read more.
Album Data
Released: August 1965
Recorded: February 17th, 18th & May 17th, 1965
Record Label: Impulse! Records
Location Recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Producer: Bob Thiele
Original LP Album Length: 37 min / 52 sec
CD Reissue Album Length: 59 min / 23 sec
John Coltrane – tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone
McCoy Tyner – piano
Jimmy Garrison – double bass
Art Davis – double bass (3, 5, and 6 with Garrison)
Elvin Jones – drums
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