John Coltrane The Impulse! Albums

John Coltrane - Ballads (1962) [2CD] (2002 Deluxe Edition)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 506 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 183 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 52 Mb
© 2002 Verve / Impulse! | 314 589 548-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music

Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make.

John Coltrane Quartet - Ballads (1962) {2007 Japan MiniLP Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 193 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 104 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2007 Impulse! / Victor Japan | ICCI-9001
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make.

The classic 1963 album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane showcased the rising jazz saxophone innovator performing alongside the long-established piano institution. While the pairing might have portended a dynamic clash of the musical generations, instead we got a casual, respectful, and musically generous meeting of like-minded souls. Similarly, while one might have assumed that Ellington would use his sidemen, instead producer Bob Thiele (who also produced similar albums for Ellington including pairings with Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins) chose to bring in Coltrane's own outfit for the proceedings. Consequently, the duo is backed here at various times by bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones, as well as alternates bassist Aaron Bell and drummer Sam Woodyard…

Sonny Rollins issued only three albums on the Impulse! label, all of them recorded between 1965 and 1966. This volume in The Impulse Story series features three tracks each from Sonny Rollins on Impulse!, Alfie (the music included consists of re-recorded titles he wrote for the score), and East Broadway Run Down. These three albums feature Rollins in a number of settings. The numbers from Alfie were recorded with a ten-piece band arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. The On Impulse! tunes were recorded with ace drummer Mickey Roker, pianist Ray Bryant, and bassist Walter Booker. East Broadway Run Down features the great saxophonist in the company of Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, and Freddie Hubbard on the title track. What they all reveal is an artist at the absolute top of his game as an improviser and as a composer. Rollins' star may have shone differently from Coltrane's during these years, but just as brightly. The standout cuts on this set are the the standard "On Green Dolphin Street," "Alfie's Theme," and the stunning 20-plus-minute "East Broadway Run Down," with Rollins blowing further out than he ever had on one of his own records.

Thom Jurek, All Music Guide