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Soultrane
Soultrane
Soultrane
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Soultrane
Studio album by
John Coltrane
ReleasedOctober 1958 (1958-10)[1]
RecordedFebruary 7, 1958
StudioVan Gelder, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre
Length39:56
LabelPrestige
ProducerBob Weinstock
John Coltrane chronology
John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio
(1958) 		Soultrane
(1958) 		Giant Steps
(1960)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStar[6]
Tom HullA−[5]
The Penguin Guide to JazzStarStarStarHalf star[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record GuideStarStarStarStarStar[4]

Soultrane is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in 1958 through Prestige Records, with catalogue no. 7142. It was recorded in mono at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, three days after a Columbia Records session for Miles Davis and the Milestones album.

Content

[edit]

The album is a showcase for Coltrane's late-1950s "sheets of sound" style, the term itself coined by critic Ira Gitler in the album's liner notes. Also featured is a long reading of Billy Eckstine's ballad standard "I Want to Talk About You", which Coltrane would revisit often, including a version on the album Live at Birdland. Among the other tracks are "Good Bait" by Tadd Dameron, and Fred Lacey's "Theme for Ernie". "You Say You Care" is from the Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The album closes with a frenetic version of Irving Berlin's "Russian Lullaby". Producer Bob Weinstock relates Coltrane's humorous interpretation:

We were doing a session and we were hung for a tune and I said, "Trane, why don't you think up some old standard?" He said, "OK I got it.["]...and they played "Russian Lullaby" at a real fast tempo. At the end I asked, "Trane, what was the name of that tune?" And he said, "Rushin' Lullaby". I cracked up.[7]

Soultrane takes its title from a song on a 1956 album by Tadd Dameron featuring Coltrane, Mating Call. "Soultrane" does not appear on this Soultrane, and none of the five tunes on Soultrane is an original by Coltrane. The song "Theme for Ernie" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2005 film Hollywoodland.

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Good Bait"
12:08
2."I Want to Talk about You"Billy Eckstine10:53
Total length:23:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Say You Care"
6:16
2."Theme for Ernie"Fred Lacey4:57
3."Russian Lullaby"Irving Berlin5:33
Total length:16:46

Personnel

[edit]

Production

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Soultrane

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Soultrane is a album by American tenor saxophonist , released in October 1958 by . Recorded in a single session on February 7, 1958, at in , it features Coltrane leading a quartet with pianist , bassist , and drummer . The album comprises five tracks—"Good Bait" (composed by ), "I Want to Talk About You" (), "You Say You Care" (, , and ), "Theme for Ernie" (Fred Lacey), and "Russian Lullaby" ()—totaling approximately 39 minutes and exemplifying Coltrane's style with lyrical ballad interpretations. The recording captures Coltrane during his influential tenure with the , showcasing his personal approach to improvisation, often described as "" for its dense, flowing phrases, alongside more straightforward and warm playing on tracks like "You Say You Care" and "I Want to Talk About You". Garland's piano solos and the rhythm section's solid support highlight the quartet's cohesion, reflecting the label's signature small-group sessions under Bob Weinstock. Critically acclaimed upon release, Soultrane earned a five-star review from critic Dom Cerulli, who praised it as representative of Coltrane's exciting and individualistic contributions to modern , emphasizing his pursuit of innovative expression beyond conventional techniques. The album has since been recognized as a key entry in Coltrane's early discography, bridging his Prestige era output and influencing subsequent recordings, with reissues maintaining its availability through remastered editions.

Background

Context in Coltrane's career

In 1957, overcame a severe through a dramatic withdrawal, an experience he later described as spiritually transformative, enabling a significant resurgence in his professional life. This recovery followed his dismissal from Miles Davis's quintet earlier that year due to unreliability stemming from , but by December 1957, Davis rehired him, recognizing Coltrane's renewed dedication and technical growth. Coltrane's return to the quintet in early 1958 marked a pivotal phase, as the group toured extensively and began incorporating modal structures into their improvisations, foreshadowing innovations heard on Davis's album Milestones later that year. Amid this momentum, Coltrane fulfilled ongoing contractual obligations to Prestige Records, which he had signed in 1957 for a series of leader sessions at a modest fee of $300 per album. These commitments required him to record prolifically—over 20 albums' worth of material between late 1955 and 1958—often on short notice without extensive rehearsal, even as his primary association with Davis shifted to Columbia Records. This dual-label schedule highlighted the logistical challenges of the era's independent jazz scene, where artists balanced artistic development with commercial demands. Soultrane was one of Coltrane's early studio albums as a leader for Prestige, following Coltrane (1957) and Traneing In (1958), with additional material from his 1957–1958 sessions later compiled for releases like Lush Life (1961). During this hard bop-dominated period, Coltrane's work gained acclaim for its intensity and harmonic exploration, solidifying his reputation as a forward-thinking soloist within Davis's influential ensemble.

Recording sessions

Soultrane was recorded on February 7, 1958, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in . The session occurred just three days after Coltrane's involvement in the initial Milestones recording date on February 4, 1958, underscoring his demanding schedule as he balanced commitments to alongside his role in Davis's band. The recording exemplified Prestige's efficient, no-frills approach under producer Bob Weinstock, who favored marathon single-day sessions to maximize material from artists under contract. This particular session emphasized spontaneity and live performance energy. Engineering duties were handled by , whose setup in the converted living room produced an intimate, live-room ambiance ideally suited to small-group ensembles. This acoustic environment contributed to the album's warm, immediate sonic character, capturing the quartet's interplay with minimal intervention.

Musical content

Style and analysis

Soultrane represents a pivotal example of hard bop in late-1950s jazz, blending energetic, blues-rooted rhythms with sophisticated harmonic structures. The album incorporates ballad elements, evident in slower, lyrical interpretations that emphasize emotional depth and melodic introspection. Coltrane's tenor saxophone dominates with his emerging "sheets of sound" technique—a rapid-fire delivery of dense note clusters forming a sweeping, wall-of-sound effect—particularly on uptempo tracks like "Good Bait," where it creates an intense, immersive texture. The quartet's interplay underscores the album's rhythmic vitality, with the piano providing block-chord foundations that anchor the swing, walking bass lines maintaining steady propulsion, and reinforcing the propulsive groove. Coltrane leads through extended solos that balance bebop's chromatic agility with broader sweeps across the instrument's range, often employing arpeggios and scale patterns in odd groupings to heighten density and momentum. This dynamic supports a cohesive ensemble sound, where Coltrane's assertive lines integrate seamlessly with the rhythm section's supportive framework. All tracks draw from jazz standards, enabling Coltrane to infuse classics with personal intensity—merging bebop's velocity on faster pieces with profound emotional resonance in ballads like "Theme for Ernie," a plaintive rendered with breathiness. These reinterpretations highlight heartfelt spirituality, often conveying a searching quality that transcends mere technical display. The foreshadows Coltrane's modal innovations, bridging his Prestige-era to subsequent and Atlantic explorations, as seen in the freer harmonic implications amid chord-based improvisation. Clocking in at around 40 minutes, Soultrane prioritizes extended improvisational development in its longer selections, allowing space for this evolving aesthetic to unfold.

Track listing

Soultrane features five jazz standards performed by John Coltrane's quartet, all recorded during a single session on February 7, 1958, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, with no overdubs. The selections are pre-existing standards rather than Coltrane originals, chosen to highlight melodic depth in a quartet format. The original LP configuration on Prestige Records (catalogue number PRLP 7142) was issued in mono in 1958, with stereo variants following later (PRST 7531). Side A contained the two longer tracks, while Side B held the shorter ones, as detailed below:
SideNo.TitleComposer(s)Length
A1Good BaitCount Basie, 12:09
A2I Want to Talk About You10:54
B3You Say You Care, 6:18
B4Theme for ErnieFred Lacey4:56
B5Russian Lullaby5:36

Production and release

Personnel

The personnel for Soultrane consisted of a quartet led by on , with on , on , and on drums. served as bandleader and played throughout the album; by 1958, he had established himself as an emerging virtuoso following his tenure in Miles Davis's First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1960 (with a hiatus in 1957), where he honed his improvisational approach before embarking on his own Prestige recordings. Red Garland provided piano support, renowned for his distinctive block-chord comping style that added harmonic density and rhythmic drive; he was a key member of Davis's rhythm section during the same quintet period from 1955 to 1958. Paul Chambers handled double bass duties, specializing in fluid walking bass lines that anchored the harmonic foundation; as a frequent Davis collaborator, he played in the First Great Quintet alongside Coltrane and Garland, appearing on landmark recordings like Round About Midnight (1957). Art Taylor rounded out the group on drums, delivering a swing-oriented pulse that propelled the ensemble's momentum; a prominent session drummer in the late 1950s, he later collaborated with Coltrane on the innovative Giant Steps (1960), showcasing his ability to navigate complex rhythms with precision.

Release details

Soultrane was originally released in October 1958 by Prestige Records, with catalog number PRLP 7142, as a 12-inch LP available in both mono and stereo formats. The album formed part of Prestige's output during the boom, reflecting the label's emphasis on recordings in the late 1950s. Subsequent reissues include the remastered edition on CD in the through the Original Jazz Classics series, followed by CD releases in the that did not include bonus tracks for this album. In the 2010s, issued vinyl repressions, and the album became widely available on digital streaming platforms.

Reception and legacy

Critical reception

Upon its release in 1958, Soultrane received positive notices from jazz critics, who praised John Coltrane's emerging intensity and the quartet's cohesive interplay. In a December 1958 review for DownBeat, Dom Cerulli awarded the album five stars, describing it as a "very, very good LP" that offers a "true picture" of Coltrane's multidimensional playing, including his "sheets of sound" technique and lyrical passages on ballads like "You Say You Care." Cerulli highlighted the first-rate support from pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor, noting their swinging momentum and Garland's notable solos. Modern retrospectives have consistently acclaimed Soultrane as an essential document of Coltrane's late-1950s evolution, emphasizing its raw energy and accessibility as an entry point to his genius. AllMusic's Steve Huey rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling it a "superb example" of Coltrane's post-Miles Davis Quintet style, with a loose, swinging vibe that captures his developing power and lyricism on mostly standards; he deemed it essential for understanding Coltrane's growth. Rolling Stone included it in its list of the best albums of the 1950s with a perfect 5/5 score, underscoring its status as a hard bop classic. Similarly, a 1999 All About Jazz review by Douglas Payne lauded the session's "looser, more felt vibe" compared to Coltrane's contemporaneous Blue Note work, appreciating the compatibility between Coltrane and Garland while noting its bop-oriented covers as assured and enjoyable. A 2018 retrospective in Progrography described it as representing "some of the greatest tenor saxophone playing ever recorded," positioning it as a perfect introduction to Coltrane's artistry. Critics have appreciated Soultrane for its raw energy and quartet cohesion, though some have noted the Prestige sessions' informal, marathon nature as contributing to a less polished feel relative to later Atlantic releases. Payne observed that the album features "exceptional but not definitive takes," reflecting the label's practice of drawing from extended jams without extensive editing, yet resulting in highly compatible and swinging performances. Coltrane himself later regarded Soultrane highly, placing it alongside Giant Steps as one of his favorites in a 1960 interview. Aggregated ratings from major jazz databases reflect consistent high marks, with Soultrane often scoring 4 stars or above. Beyond the critic scores from (4.5/5) and (5/5), user averages on stand at 3.53/5 from over 3,100 ratings, while its inclusion in 's five-star canon underscores its enduring critical favor. Overall, the album is frequently highlighted as underrated compared to Blue Train, yet vital for its snapshot of Coltrane's transitional intensity.

Legacy

Soultrane occupies a significant place in John Coltrane's oeuvre as one of his significant recordings for Prestige Records during his final year with the label, marking the transition from his hard bop explorations to the avant-garde and modal innovations of his Atlantic and Impulse! periods. Released in 1958, the album exemplifies Coltrane's emerging command of intricate, layered improvisations that foreshadowed the harmonic complexities of his 1960 breakthrough Giant Steps, positioning Soultrane as an essential document of his artistic evolution during a prolific phase. The album's influence extends deeply into jazz history, particularly through Coltrane's development of the "" technique, a term coined by critic Ira Gitler in the original to describe Coltrane's rapid, dense streams of notes that expanded improvisational possibilities. This approach inspired later saxophonists such as , who adopted elements of Coltrane's intense, spiritually infused style in their own work. Furthermore, Soultrane features pianist , bassist , and drummer —key members of Miles Davis's mid-1950s quintet—underscoring the enduring collaborative impact of that on modern ensembles. Culturally, Soultrane has permeated beyond jazz circles, with the track "Theme for Ernie" appearing on the soundtrack of the 2006 film Hollywoodland, introducing Coltrane's emotive balladry to broader audiences. The album's compositions have also received occasional nods in 1990s jazz-rap productions, reflecting Coltrane's broader sampling legacy in hip-hop. It has been recognized in various jazz canon compilations, affirming its status among essential recordings. Preservation efforts have sustained Soultrane's relevance, with the recordings digitized and maintained through initiatives like the John Coltrane Home, which safeguards his artistic legacy. Multiple reissues, including the 2008 Rudy Van Gelder remaster, the 2019 box set Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings, and editions marking Prestige's 50th anniversary, have ensured high-fidelity access, while its availability on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music supports its use in jazz education and contemporary playlists.

References

  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/soultrane-mw0000649452
  2. https://www.discogs.com/master/37307-John-Coltrane-With-Red-Garland-Soultrane
  3. https://downbeat.com/microsites/prestige/trane-review-soultrane.html
  4. https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/john-coltrane-prestige-records-feature
  5. https://www.jazzwise.com/features/article/miles-davis-and-john-coltrane-yin-and-yang
  6. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/john-coltrane-prestige-sheets-of-sound/
  7. https://store.johncoltrane.com/products/soultrane-lp
  8. https://www.kcrw.com/stories/john-coltrane-58-the-prestige-recordings
  9. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/soultrane-john-coltrane-prestige-records-review-by-douglas-payne
  10. https://www.milesdavis.com/albums/milestones/
  11. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2006/01/18/bob-weinstock/cdcb916f-ea8e-49d6-b1ae-ea5973ed5984/
  12. https://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/interview-with-tad-richards-author-of-listening-to-prestige-chronicling-its-classic-jazz-recordings-1949-1972/
  13. http://www.jimnewsom.com/PFW2006/112106-ColtraneStitt.html
  14. https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/miles-davis-rudy-van-gelder-and-living-room-recording-studio-part-1-2
  15. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/jazz-sound-hip/
  16. https://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/rudy-van-gelder-jazz-musics-recording-angel-an-essay-by-joel-lewis/
  17. https://www.analogplanet.com/content/isoultranei-reissued-yet-again-0
  18. https://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-improvisation/sheets-sound-explained-john-coltrane/
  19. https://ontherecord.co/2023/01/15/john-coltrane-soul-trane/
  20. https://www.johncoltrane.com/biography
  21. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/red-garland-mn0000929890
  22. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/paul-chambers
  23. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/art-taylor
  24. https://www.facebook.com/craftrecordingsofficial/videos/john-coltrane-soultrane/8830726253604608/
  25. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/prestige-records-an-alternative-top-20-albums
  26. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/491585/John-Coltrane:Soultrane-RVG-remaster-series
  27. https://craftrecordings.com/products/john-coltrane-soultrane-lp-1
  28. https://www.albumoftheyear.org/ratings/35-rolling-stone-highest-rated/1950s/1
  29. https://progrography.com/john-coltrane/review-john-coltrane-soultrane-1958/
  30. https://jazzdesk.wordpress.com/2019/09/09/soultrane-a-favorite-of-coltrane/
  31. https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/john-coltrane/soultrane/
  32. https://bertoltpress.com/2021/05/15/john-coltranes-soultrane/
  33. https://concord.com/concord-albums/soultrane-rudy-van-gelder-remaster-2/
  34. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/john-coltrane-sheets-of-sound/
  35. https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/pharoah-sanders
  36. https://www.soundtrackinfo.com/OST/hollywoodland/
  37. https://thecoltranehome.org/the-coltrane-legacy/
  38. https://concord.com/concord-albums/coltrane-58-the-prestige-recordings/
  39. https://jazztimes.com/archives/mfsl-reissues-soultrane/
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