John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent (1976 Japanese Impulse! Vinyl LP, Gatefold)

John Coltrane Quartet - Crescent | Vinyl LP, 1976 Japanese Impulse! Reissue (YS-8506-AI, Gatefold)

• The Classic Quartet at the height of its powers: John Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, performing five Coltrane originals
• Recorded at Van Gelder Studio on April 27 and June 1, 1964, six months before A Love Supreme, engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, produced by Bob Thiele
• Japanese reissue (1976, Nippon Columbia) in the The World of Coltrane Revived series, number 6, with gatefold sleeve, liner notes by Nat Hentoff and LeRoi Jones, and Japanese insert by Shoichi Yui

In 1964, John Coltrane spent less time in the recording studio than in any other year of his career as a leader. He made two studio albums. The first was this one. The second, recorded six months later, was A Love Supreme. Both are among the most significant recordings in jazz. Dave Liebman and producer Michael Cuscuna have each named Crescent as their favourite Coltrane album, ahead of A Love Supreme, and the reason is audible: this is the quartet at its most concentrated. Five Coltrane originals, no standards, no guests, no saxophone overdubs. Coltrane, Tyner, Garrison, and Jones, playing together in the room at Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs.

The album opens with two contemplative ballads (“Crescent” and “Wise One”) that signal the deepening spiritual dimension of Coltrane’s music. “Bessie’s Blues” is a three-and-a-half-minute straight blues, the album’s most direct piece. “Lonnie’s Lament,” at nearly twelve minutes, is the emotional centre: Coltrane plays with an aching lyricism, and Garrison’s bass carries the piece through its long arc. “The Drum Thing” closes the album as a feature for Elvin Jones, with Tyner absent and Coltrane using his horn percussively alongside Jones’s drums. The gatefold photograph of Coltrane, taken by Bob Thiele, was later used as the cover of A Love Supreme. The back cover notes are by LeRoi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka. Garrison’s widow recalled that Crescent and A Love Supreme were the two albums her husband listened to the most. This is a 1976 Japanese reissue, number 6 in the Nippon Columbia “World of Coltrane Revived” series. Japanese insert with notes by Shoichi Yui. Catalogue number YS-8506-AI.