Just because I haven't written a whole lot about John Coltrane up to this point doesn't mean I don't seriously revere the man's music. But what is there left to be said about Coltrane that hasn't already been said with much more eloquent words than I can muster?
There are, however, a few Trane tunes I love that I rarely see get much mention. His rendition of the Billy Strayhorn classic composition "Lush Life," for instance, is perhaps the best version I've ever heard. "Central Park West" is a lovely tune in its original form even if Joe Lovano later topped it. And then there's the title cut from that 1957 session he co-headlined with pianist Red Garland called "Traneing In."
Both John Coltrane and Red Garland were in Miles Davis' quintet in the mid-fifties but 'Trane at the time was temporarily out of it and woodshedding under Thelonius Monk. Meanwhile, Red was still in it but heading up his own little trio on the side. And what a trio it was: Paul Chambers and Art Taylor, both of whom were also recent members of Davis' combo.
"Traneing In" is a simple, straight blues number concocted by JC, and it's perfectly suited for not just him, but perhaps even more so for Garland. Red's traditional sounding mixture of single line and block chords was always heavily blues-based. He starts soloing around the blues figures almost as soon as the song starts and playfully dances around it with his right hand while the left occasionally throws in reference chords. After a while, he's playing full chords with both hands, grooving with a nice sense of rhythm.
Trane makes his grand entrance at the 3:36 mark and starts out blowing long notes before launching into his unmatched ability to play several notes at the same time (still a newly acquired trait at that time). Still several years away from his avant garde tendencies, Trane's notes don't stray often from a pretty tight range, but they're all the right notes and played flawlessly and clarity, despite the speed at which he's playing them at times. After several minutes of sizzling "sheets of sound" he finally gives way to Paul Chambers.
Article comments
1 - Tim Jarrett
Always good to hear someone calling out some of the fine 1950s/1960s Trane performances. I've never really put "Traneing In" in the same category with his "Lush Life" or "Central Park West," but I'll be stepping back to listen to it again now.
I always felt that part of the genius of Trane was his ability to carry huge volumes of emotion into understated performances like "Central Park West." Of course "Lush Life" -- whether his 1958 performance with Donald Byrd guesting, or his 1963 recording with the classic quartet plus Johnny Hartman--will be forever his, for his ability to step past the complex turns of the tune and grab the yearning at the heart of the tune.
2 - Pico
The Byrd session (recorded just months after "Traneing In" with the same pianist and bass player) is the version of "Lush Life" I was thinking of, but yes, the Hartman rendition works just fine, too. Truthfully, I'd put "Lush" over "Traneing" but I spotlighted the latter because it's probably a little more unnoticed. And, it's a helluva lot of fun to listen to Trane do some blues jamming.