John Coltrane

Ascension is the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde.

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Vinyl Rip in 24-Bit/96-kHz | FLAC tracks | no cue | no log | Covers | MU, FF, RS | 721 MB 3% recovery
1962 | Genre: Jazz | Label: Impulse! | IMP-166 Limited Edition | US pressing | Vinyl: M
180 gram vinyl reissue

For this classic encounter, Duke Ellington "sat in" with the John Coltrane Quartet for a set dominated by Ellington's songs; some performances have his usual sidemen (bassist Aaron Bell and drummer Sam Woodyard) replacing Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones in the group. Although it would have been preferable to hear Coltrane play in the Duke Ellington orchestra instead of the other way around, the results are quite rewarding.

(Scott Yanow - AllMusic Guide)

While there are only four men present for this session and arranging is certainly not stressed, Tadd’s composing is as potent as ever with such memorable items as “Mating Call,” “Soultrane,” “Gnid,” and “On a Misty Night” far above the usual “originals” that often appear on a recording date. To play these compositions, the aid of tenorman John Coltrane was enlisted. Trane’s tenor answered the mating call of Tadd’s music. Tadd’s intelligent comping, the strength of veteran John Simmons’s bass and the brightly burning power of the consistent Philly Joe Jones adds up to the solid sum that is the rhythm section. Each track has something to offer: the exotic “Mating Call,” the aptly named ballad that is “Soultrane”…

Recorded in one day (August 23, 1957) at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Hackensack, NJ. This date of ballads and burners features the young tenor saxophonist John Coltrane leading a quartet comprised of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Arthur Taylor. Liner notewriter (original and reissue) Ira Gitler remarks, “In the ‘50s I was called upon to name many of the untitled songs at Prestige. Traneing In came to me because of the way [Coltrane] homed in after Garland’s opening solo [on the song].” This album is significant in that it took place halfway through Coltrane’s break with Miles Davis’ classic quintet of the ‘50s and it was the same year that the tenor saxophonist hooked up with Thelonious Monk to record the recently discovered live Carnegie Hall masterpiece.