John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963) {Remaster 1995, MCA} rip by Musicgate Please upload my releases wherever is possible - Let the river flow... ©Sarchiapone 1995 MCA Records, Inc. © 1995 GRP Records Performer Info Disc Review The perfect blend of passionate tenor saxophone and sensual baritone vocals, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is one of the most romantic albums ever recorded. Both legends in their own right - John Coltrane as one of the most ingenious and inventive tenor saxophonists and Johnny Hartman as the ultimate balladeer - their synergy on this 1963 recording resulted in a masterpiece that far surpassed the popularity of any of their individual recordings. This is music that will set the mood for any evening. From booklet This record serves a double purpose: it brings back into the public ear one of the most neglected singers of the middle bop era and it proves in a novel—for them—way that John C. and his Thrilling Three are eloquent balladiers and very, very sensitive accompanists. I say novel for them because, to my knowledge, no singer has ever performed or recorded with the John Coltrane quartet. The quartet has been, till now, concerned with other things, with the development of a kinetic vernacular which facilitated the release of a kind of group energy that was deeper in content and fuller in emotional color than any music I have ever experienced, anywhere. How translate this energy-formed vernacular to the more articulate but more restrictive form of the song? For one thing, Trane's been recording little else lately. His latest two releases were Ballads (Impulse A-32) and Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (Impulse A-30), which were about 2/3 ballads. In these two dates, particularly the latter, Trane showed a lyric sophistication that surprised nobody who'd ever sat through more than one of his sets in the clubs. His ballad style is increasingly becoming as subtle as his uptempo blues playing is dynamic, as witness Autumn Serenade. The vernacular translates quite well; is, in fact, the same language. Johnny Hartman was Coltrane's unequivocal choice for the singer he'd like most to be caught with in front of a mike. Hartman is one of the very best of a strong lot of big-voiced crooners who were the sine Qua ïîï of the big bebop band. He conjures up images of Earl Coleman with the big voice, the even bigger collar, and the skinny, drooping boptie; of Lee Richardson, a good one, whom Hartman replaced with Dizzy's Band; of Herb Jeffries, the Brownskinned Buckaroo; of Herb Lance and Arthur Prysock; and of course, of the Great Mister B, Billy Eckstine. Where are they now? That jazz singing, especially among male singers, has declined since the fadeout of the bebop band is one of the least controversial topics in jazz. Replacing the masculinity of the crooner with the effeteness of the lark is only another kind of the premature destruction of artists by factors which have nothing to do with their art, which destruction we are the passive witnesses of in these times. So we are fortunate to have Johnny Hartman back in the life, and in a better than "favorable" setting, too. You are immediately struck by Hartman's dark satin lyricism in They Say That Falling In Love Is Wonderful. His voice, always a perfectly tuned instrument, is unobtrusive and relaxing, heavy in quality but almost without tremolo, which makes Hartman unique among the big-voiced boppers. His enunciation is impeccable (you'll hear every word on this record), which makes him unique among all male singers. He respects the word, adapts his vocal embellishments to the value (in meaning and sound) of the word: which makes him unique among everybody. Coltrane's bridge is intended to fit into the totality of the song. He doesn't, as you might expect of such a hard-blowing tenor man, try to overpower the singer or the song. He rather re-interprets it along the same lines as Hartman. Dedicated To You is rendered with all the intimacy the name suggests. Hartman sings the first verse and leaves off right in the middle of Coltrane's horn. This time it's Trane who makes the initial interpretation with one of the sweetest, most straightforward choruses he's ever recorded. You get the feeling Trane's thinking the words while he blows the melody. Then when Hartman sings the last verses you hardly notice the change from horn to vocal. Coltrane introduces My One and Only Love, one of "Tin Pan Alley's" most lyric moments. It's a tender and rather complete statement from Trane. Garrison makes a strong bridge to Hartman, who breathes these lyrics like a horn. Garrison is a beautiful bass accompanist. He plays the lines under Hartman like the bass in a vocal quartet. I don't mean to slight McCoy Tyner, whose skills as an accompanist were a known quantity by the time My Favorite Things became popular; or Elvin's sensitive restraint on drums. It's just that performing with a singer necessarily tones this group down and the bass lines get through better. Lush Life, which Trane's recorded before, is often performed but never this well. Hartman's vocal control lets him handle the songspiel of the first stanza in a way that seems like pure communication. From there he glides through the difficult changes of a very wordy song with an ease of expression that pulls every nuance from it with no ostentation whatever. And Hartman, like Coltrane, uses Tyner's comping, both as an extension of his own expression and as a musical ancillary to a conversational song. Coltrane's solos—well, another insight into what the song is about. A double-timed commentary on what Hartman's just said. Tracks info 1. They Say It's Wonderful (Berlin) - 5:17 2. Dedicated to You (S.Cahn, S.Chaplin, H.Zaret)- 5:30 3. My One and Only Love (R. Mellin, G. Wood) - 4:54 4. Lush Life (Billy Strayhorn) - 5:26 5. You Are Too Beautiful (R.Rodgers, L.Hart) - 5:33 6. Autumn Serenade (S. Gallop, P. DeRose) - 4:18 Original sessions produced by Bob Thiele Reissue produced by Michael Cuscuna Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 7, 1963. Recording Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder Digitally Remastered by Erick Labson at MCA Music Media Studios, using 20-Bit Super Mapping 2.Q Personel info John Coltrane, tenor sax Johnny Hartman, vocals McCoy Tyner, piano Jimmy Garrison, bass Elvin Jones, drums