Album of the Day — September 10
John Coltrane Quarter — Crescent
10.September.2020
John Coltrane Quartet
Crescent
1964
I’ve always been interested in the work of artists just before or after their seminal work. Keeping that in mind, Crescent is the album before his watershed album, A Love Supreme.
The album was released in 1964 on Impulse! Records and captures Coltrane’s continued exploration of drum/saxophone duets.
This record, recorded between April and June of 1964, and released in July, the John Coltrane Quartet features:
- John Coltrane — tenor sax
- McCoy Tyner — piano
- Jimmy Garrison — double bass
- Elvin Jones — drums
The importance and legacy of John Coltrane can’t be understated.
He may have begun his career in bebop and would work with both Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk; his legacy would be as one of the leaders of “free jazz.”
“Free jazz” (aka avant-garde jazz, modern jazz, free improvisation) saw musicians mess around with jazz conventions like tempos, tones, and chord changes. Artists who explored this felt the confines of things like bebop were too restrictive…
