John Coltrane

• 180 gram VINYL –AUDIOPHILE PRESSING

• The Complete Album + 2 Bonus Tracks

• 5 STARS DOWNBEAT

Coltrane’s sessions for Atlantic in late October 1960 were prolific, yielding the material for My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays the Blues, and Coltrane’s Sound. My Favorite Things was destined to be the most remembered and influential of these, and while Coltrane Plays the Blues is not as renowned or daring in material, it is still a powerful session.

As for the phrase “plays the blues” in the title, that’s not so much an indicator that the tunes are conventional blues (which they aren’t). It’s more indicative of a bluesy sensibility, whether he is playing muscular saxophone or, on “Blues to Bechet” and “Mr. Syms”, the more unusual-sounding (at the time) soprano sax. Elvin Jones, who hadn’t been in Coltrane’s band long, really busts out on the quicker numbers, such as “Blues to You” and “Mr. Day”.

PERSONNEL:

• JOHN COLTRANE - (tenor sax & soprano sax on A2 & B2 only)
• McCOY TYNER - (piano out on A2, A3 & B4)
• STEVE DAVIS - (bass)
• ELVIN JONES - (drums)

New York, October 24, 1960.

TRACKS:

• SIDE A:
• A1. BLUES TO ELVIN
• A2. BLUES TO BECHET
• A3. BLUES TO YOU
• A4. BLUES TO ELVIN [alternative take] (*)

• SIDE B:
• B1. MR. DAY
• B2. MR. SYMS
• B3. MR. KNIGHT
• B4. BLUES TO YOU [alternative take] (*)

• (*) BONUS TRACKS. From the same session but not included on the original album.