Blue Train

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Product Details

Artist : John Coltrane
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0724349532625
Label : Toshiba EMI
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2003-08-26
UPC : 724349532625

ASIN : B0000A5A0T

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Blue Train
2. Moment's Notice
3. Locomotion
4. I'm Old Fashioned
5. Lazy Bird
6. Blue Train [Alternate Take]
7. Lazy Bird [Alternate Take]

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Customer Reviews

Five star music with a two star remaster (2004-06-23)

The music on this cd has made it one of the top jazz records of all time and that, of course, hasn't changed. But a bad mastering job can change the listenabilty of an album and that has occured here. I have a few of the "Rudy Van Gelder" editions and the sound generally is not fairing well. The cds are often quite tinny and lacking in the bass frequency.

From the pre-Impulse years, this cd and "Giant Steps" are arguably Coltrane's best as a leader. The compositions on "Blue Train" are great and his solos fantastic. It's the begining of a new harmonic language Coltrane was exploring, culminating with "Giants Steps" and then disintegrating into the more modal Impulse years.

Buy "Blue Train" for the music and hope Blue Note gets the sound right next time around.

Rudy? (2004-02-29)

I was not formerly aware of Rudy Van Gelder remasters. I was at the record store and I couldn't decide between the Rudy Van Gelder remaster or the SACD Hybrid which was also available. I assume that they're both remastered from the same master tape at 24 bit resolution, but I opted for the Van Gelder. It sounds great! The clarity and musicality of this remaster is incredible. I had previously used an 180 gram remastered vinyl as my reference copy, but the Van Gelder is an entirely new experience. I would highly recommend Rudy Van Gelder remasters. www.truebluemusic.com has a great selection of Van Gelder remasters in both CD and LP.

A sensational jam session. (2004-02-22)

For me, the recordings Coltrane made between 1957 and 1959 were his greatest of his entire two decade career. Milestones, Kind of Blue and Blue Train all showcase Coltrane at his best. Unlike the two recordings he made with the Miles Davis Sextet, this music is more easy listening and for that reason offers the perfect introduction to John Coltrane. Coltrane plays with fire on a wonderfully exciting blues journey, Blue Train; his solo being perfectly complemented by an equally exciting solo by trumpeter Lee Morgan. This piece is one of the most famous of all Coltrane recordings and rightly so. The recording captures the freedom and ambience of a true jam session sound. My personal favourite, however, is the only cover track on the album, I'm Old Fashioned. Here, Coltrane showcases, what for me, is the highlight on any John Coltrane solo - his sound. Coltrane had one of the most sublime saxophone sounds in the history of jazz, for me, second only to Charlie Parker. On this track, Coltrane bares his sound for all to hear, free of the intense technical displays which tend to obscure it. Like many other Coltrane ballad interpretations, he plays the pure melody, with slight augmentations, but always with simplicity and honesty. John Coltrane truly had one the most individual and beautiful sounds of all time and it is truly exemplified on, this, his most accessible of all recordings.

Another Trane (2003-10-19)

The rating, of course, is relative. Practically any recording by Coltrane before 1966 deserves five stars, but "Blue Trane's" singular importance, it strikes me, has been exaggerated. National Public Radio lists it in its "Basic Jazz Library" but omits "Giant Steps," the recording that changed the harmonic language of jazz.

"Blue Trane" is one of many Van Gelder-engineered sessions featuring Coltrane's tenor in the 1950's. Besides the Miles Quintet dates on Prestige there's sterling work by Trane on sessions with Kenny Burrell, Ray Draper, and Hank Mobley, to name a few.. "Blue Trane" is certainly an exemplary session, one moreover than inspires both Morgan and Fuller to reach new heights (though Fuller falters a bit on "Old Fashioned." One wishes J.J. Johnson, especially after his superb Blue Note session with Rollins, had recorded with Coltrane).

The problem with the session, compared to the Miles Quintet recordings, is simply that Trane has to give up solo space to an additional horn (if a sixth horn is to be added to the ensemble, it may as well be Cannonball Adderly's). Also, opinions will vary, but an undeniable sameness attaches itself to the familiar, up-close, "Van Gelder sound." Unless you're a Coltrane collector, the better bets from this period are the Columbia recordings, especially "Round Midnight" and "Kind of Blue." They capture superlative and stunning solos by Coltrane within the context of cutting-edge ensembles and three-dimensional sound.

Too Many Blue Trains (2003-08-08)

Wait a minute, I already own "The Ultimate Blue Train" so what is this CD supposed to be, Super-Ultimate?! Clearly with this reissue of John Coltrane's classic "Blue Train," the folks at Blue Note have returned to the mindset they had during the deletion-happy, series-slashing days of the late 1980s (when they reportedly deleted the majority of that year's jazz releases to make way for a then new Garth Brooks album). I am delighted that Rudy Van Gelder has been able to remaster one of the greatest sessions that he ever recorded, but that fact alone does not warrant another reissue. "The Ultimate Blue Train" was worth buying to replace the original CD -- it had remastered sound, two bonus tracks, and a multi-media component featuring rare photographs and more. It was what CDs were supposed to be! Yet another CD reissue of the same material that we all are supposed to buy again, that furthermore confuses potential new jazz buyers, is not! The only reason I give this CD four stars and not less is because this album contains some of the greatest jazz ever made. I love John Coltrane, but I hate manipulative marketing.

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