Albums That All Humans Should Own #5

When John Coltrane left Atlantic Records in 1961 to join upstart Impulse! it marked a major shift in the jazz community. How big was it? His signing helped the label exist at all and was certainly their biggest star.  A four CD box set commemorating the label’s best was recently released and it is aptly named 'The House That Trane Built'. There is no small number of jazz afficiandos who cherish those orange-spined albums. Perhaps they are the only jazz label whose album art rivals Blue Note...

Some of my favourite Coltrane albums were from this period (who doesn't adore 'A Love Supreme'?) and his quartet pushed the boundaries of jazz, creating what some haters referred to as anti-jazz.

In 1963 Impulse! went to the band and said they would like them to record an album with a vocalist and the band could pick whoever they wanted.

Johnny Hartman was their immediate and unanimous choice.

And what a choice!

He is my favourite jazz vocalist (I’ll take him over Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Louis Armstrong .... well, okay, this is starting to seem like a difficult decision to have to make. Let’s just say that he is my favourite but there are others who are very very close to him in my heart) and how often have I listened to his gorgeous baritone and wished I could sing like that...

Before I continue, my friends, I will end your suspense and announce:

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman' (1963) is my fifth pick of essential albums that all humans should own. 

Hartman put out two of his own Impulse! albums and I could easily have named them here.  'The Voice That Is!' not only shows the label’s love for exclamation points, but is a collection of some of the finest vocals ever recorded. How many times has my wife sung Joey,Joey, Joey to our babies during feedings? Listening to her struggle to hit those lush low notes is fabulous. The song’s lyrics is a great American short story.

But I didn’t pick that album (though you should go buy it too) since the addition of John Coltrane’s stellar band makes it that much more worthy of all human ownership.

I wonder if Coltrane's band sounds so good since they found it refreshing to play some gentle music after their time in the avant-garde...

It is impossible to pick a stand-out track since the album is a little gem.  I say little as this is the only negative I can think of: it is only 31 mins long. Still, 31 minutes of perfection is still worth possessing in this turbulent age, don’t you think?

I will stop here. I am listening to They Say It’s Wonderful (listen here) at this moment as I type in this coffee shop and ahh.... Coltrane’s solo just began. Perfection.