Crescent (John Coltrane)
Encyclopedia
Crescent is a 1964 studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane
, released by Impulse! as A-66. It features his jazz quartet group of McCoy Tyner
, Jimmy Garrison
and Elvin Jones
playing all original Coltrane compositions, with the leader playing tenor saxophone
exclusively. It is commonly regarded as the saxophonist's darkest album. Only the brief, infectious medium-up "Bessie's Blues", and a samba
-tinged groove in the midsection of the otherwise sedate "Wise One", break the sombre mood.
. They returned to the studio on June 1, 1965, and recorded versions of the title track and "Bessie's Blues" which ended up on the album. The three rejected recordings from April 27 are lost.
The music represents Coltrane's return to meticulous form and structure, and post-bop
modality, after several years of free-form
experimentation alternating with traditional ballad
eering. The album's closing track is an improvisational
feature for Jones' drums (with spare melodic accompaniment from Coltrane's tenor sax and Garrison's bass at the song's beginning and end): Coltrane would continue to explore drum/saxophone conversations both in live performances with this group and on subsequent recordings such as the posthumously-released Interstellar Space
(with Rashied Ali
.) Furthermore, Coltrane does not solo
at all on side two of the original LP; the ballad "Lonnie's Lament" instead features a long bass solo by Garrison.
The album's liner notes are written by Nat Hentoff
and the original LP
's inner gatefold profile photograph of Coltrane is the same one which would be featured on the cover of Coltrane's next Impulse!
album release, A Love Supreme
.
and an almost hour-long version of "Crescent" would later be recorded on Live in Japan. The entire album would be collected on The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings
. Coltrane would later perform the song "After the Crescent", which appeared on 1965's To the Beat of a Different Drum
.
The title track would later be covered
by Alice Coltrane
for 2004's Translinear Light
and McCoy Tyner
on his 1991 album Soliloquy
. Tyner recorded it again live for the albums McCoy Tyner Plays John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard and Live at Sweet Basil
.
Garrison's widow recalled that this album along with A Love Supreme
were the two he listened to the most.
)
Side one
Side two
Technical personnel
Compact Disc release
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, released by Impulse! as A-66. It features his jazz quartet group of McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Jimmy Garrison
Jimmy Garrison
Jimmy Garrison was an American jazz double bassist born in Miami, Florida. He was best known through his long association with John Coltrane from 1961–1967.-Biography:...
and Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
playing all original Coltrane compositions, with the leader playing tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
exclusively. It is commonly regarded as the saxophonist's darkest album. Only the brief, infectious medium-up "Bessie's Blues", and a samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
-tinged groove in the midsection of the otherwise sedate "Wise One", break the sombre mood.
Recording and production
The quartet went into Rudy Van Gelder Studio on April 27, 1964, and performed all five of the songs on this album as well as a short version of "Song of Praise"—which would be recut in May of that year and compiled on The John Coltrane Quartet PlaysThe John Coltrane Quartet Plays
The John Coltrane Quartet Plays is a 1965 album by jazz musician John Coltrane.-Track listing:#"Chim Chim Cheree" – 6:58...
. They returned to the studio on June 1, 1965, and recorded versions of the title track and "Bessie's Blues" which ended up on the album. The three rejected recordings from April 27 are lost.
The music represents Coltrane's return to meticulous form and structure, and post-bop
Post-bop
Post-bop is a term for a form of small-combo jazz music that evolved in the early-to-mid sixties. The genre's origins lie in seminal work by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
modality, after several years of free-form
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
experimentation alternating with traditional ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
eering. The album's closing track is an improvisational
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
feature for Jones' drums (with spare melodic accompaniment from Coltrane's tenor sax and Garrison's bass at the song's beginning and end): Coltrane would continue to explore drum/saxophone conversations both in live performances with this group and on subsequent recordings such as the posthumously-released Interstellar Space
Interstellar Space
Interstellar Space was one of the final studio albums recorded by the saxophonist John Coltrane before his death in 1967, originally-released posthumously by Impulse! Records on LP in 1974.-Composition:...
(with Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson was an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.-Biography:...
.) Furthermore, Coltrane does not solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
at all on side two of the original LP; the ballad "Lonnie's Lament" instead features a long bass solo by Garrison.
The album's liner notes are written by Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
and the original LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
's inner gatefold profile photograph of Coltrane is the same one which would be featured on the cover of Coltrane's next Impulse!
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
album release, A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
.
Legacy
An earlier version of "Lonnie's Lament" appears on Afro-Blue ImpressionsAfro-Blue Impressions
Afro Blue Impressions is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded live in 1963 and released on the Pablo label in 1977 as a double LP.-Reception:...
and an almost hour-long version of "Crescent" would later be recorded on Live in Japan. The entire album would be collected on The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings
The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings
The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Recordings is a 1998 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane.-Albums covered:Coltrane’s classic quartet recorded 11 albums for Impulse!:* Ballads * Coltrane * Live at Birdland...
. Coltrane would later perform the song "After the Crescent", which appeared on 1965's To the Beat of a Different Drum
To the Beat of a Different Drum
To the Beat of a Different Drum is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane released posthumously in 1978.-Track listing:#"Dear Old Stockholm" - 10:33#"After the Rain" - 4:07#"One Up One Down" - 15:12#"After the Crescent" - 13:24...
.
The title track would later be covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
for 2004's Translinear Light
Translinear Light
Translinear Light is the last studio album released by Alice Coltrane. It was produced by her son, Ravi Coltrane, and released in 2004. All compositions by Alice Coltrane with the exception of 4 traditional compositions in addition to "Crescent" and "Leo" which were written by her late husband...
and McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
on his 1991 album Soliloquy
Soliloquy (album)
Soliloquy is a 1991 album by McCoy Tyner released on the Blue Note label. Like Revelations and Things Ain't What They Used to Be it was recorded at Merkin Hall and features solo performances by Tyner. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states that "McCoy Tyner always sounds in prime form and...
. Tyner recorded it again live for the albums McCoy Tyner Plays John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard and Live at Sweet Basil
Live at Sweet Basil (McCoy Tyner album)
Live at Sweet Basil is a 1989 live album by McCoy Tyner released on the Japanese King label. It was recorded in May 1989 and features performances by Tyner's trio which included Avery Sharpe and Aaron Scott at the Sweet Basil jazz club in New York City...
.
Garrison's widow recalled that this album along with A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
were the two he listened to the most.
Track listing
All songs composed by John Coltrane and published by Jowcol Music (BMIBroadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
)
Side one
- "Crescent" – 8:41
- "Wise One" – 9:00
- "Bessie's Blues" – 3:22
Side two
- "Lonnie's Lament" – 11:45
- "The Drum Thing" – 7:22
Personnel
John Coltrane Quartet- John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
– band leader and tenorTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Jimmy GarrisonJimmy GarrisonJimmy Garrison was an American jazz double bassist born in Miami, Florida. He was best known through his long association with John Coltrane from 1961–1967.-Biography:...
– double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Elvin JonesElvin JonesElvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - McCoy TynerMcCoy TynerMcCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Technical personnel
- Nat HentoffNat HentoffNathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
– liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:... - Bob ThieleBob ThieleBob Thiele was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels.-Biography:...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Rudy Van GelderRudy Van GelderRudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
Compact Disc release
- Joe Alper – photography
- Michael CuscunaMichael CuscunaMichael Cuscuna is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is a leading discographer of Blue Note Records....
– liner notes and production - Eric Labson – remasteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Chuck StewartChuck StewartChuck Stewart is an African American photographer best known for his cover photos on as many as 2,000 albums featuring his portraits of such jazz, Rhythm and blues, bebop and salsa performers as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis among the hundreds of...
– photography