You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 6 Songs To Turn Coltrane Curious Into Coltrane Converted
Episode Date: February 24, 2025Have Giant Steps and Meditations scared you away from John Coltrane? Join us on the other side of the Trane tracks with what might be the best trio of albums ever dropped in the same year. We...’re talking 1963 Coltrane—at his most accessible (dare we say smooth?) yet still cutting straight to the truth. From the GRAMMY hall-of-famer Ballads to his legendary Impulse! sessions with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman, enter the perfect gateway into Coltrane’s world. We break down his honest melodies, the masterful support from McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison (and more), and quibble with certain Rudy Van Gelder… choices… Whether you’re Coltrane-curious or already converted, this episode has something special for your ears.Link to Spotify playlist🟠 Open Studio Members -> Nerd NookTry OS Membership today! → https://osjazz.link/aboutLooking to drop a question? Want to listen to the audio pod? Look no further!https://youllhearit.com/
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Hey, Bob, you want to take the A-Train?
No.
Caleb, how about the MetroLink?
Adam? The Amtrak?
I'd rather not.
All right. Well, let's take the coal train.
Let's.
And you're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast.
Music Explored.
Explored, brought you today by Open Studio.
Go to Open StudioJadiojadjojazz.com for...
Oh, your jazz lesson needs.
What's up here?
That was a lot.
It was too much.
How you doing the story of my life? Too much.
I'm doing okay.
I'm doing okay.
Yeah.
Good, good.
It's an interesting time.
It's been fun.
We pray to live an interesting time.
We certainly do.
I'm so excited about today's episode.
Me too.
We have the new format, the new season,
and this is the first time we're doing,
actually, we're going to fold three albums together.
All within the year of 1963.
Buddy, we could have done 13 albums all folded together from this year.
Really?
Really?
One of the most underrated years in music history.
Incredible year.
Go look up all the jazz records that got released in 1963.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
I mean, we're just concentrating on John Coltrane.
but we have some illustrious co-stars
along with Mr. Coltrane.
Of course, his classic,
he's already into his classic quartet years,
Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner.
Incredible.
But there's going to be a Johnny Hartman siding.
There's going to be a Duke Ellingson siding,
even a Sam Woodyard siding.
Excellent.
You know what I think is what's great about
the albums you've picked
and the tunes you picked for this episode
is that like if you've tried some John Coltrane before,
but maybe he wasn't quite your thing
or you haven't ever gotten the opportunity
to get into John Coltrane's music
because it can be
very intense.
Yes.
Right?
Especially if you dive in
on something like
giant steps
through the later live
Vanguard sessions.
It can be very intense.
But this is like
one of the greatest artists
of his generation
doing some incredibly
accessible,
romantic, dare I say?
Smooth, dare I say.
I know I thought that's in that
category.
Yeah.
It goes to how grounded
he was as a human being
and as a person
because he can make
music for like any person on the planet.
And I think like reach into their souls with what he does.
It's really a special time for a special person.
Yeah.
And I mean, look, these, we're going to be looking at three records.
We have a playlist, a bespoke, a bespoke, a bespoke playlist of six songs.
We were told me can't say that in 2025.
Six tracks, two from each of the albums.
But it's John Coltrane ballads, Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane.
Incredible.
And Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.
These were all released in 1963 on the impulse.
jazz record.
All three.
In one year.
All released in one year.
Oh, and he released a couple others, too.
I know.
A few others.
And he's on a couple of others for other artists.
And it's just like an incredible time.
All three of these are bangers.
Yeah.
All three are all timers.
Yeah.
And I think there's a connection between all of these because they're all primarily
ballads, not all ballads, but primarily ballads.
They're all.
I mean, I would say in the most positive sense of the term commercially, commercially viable, palatable,
populist, perhaps even.
100%. These are things,
these are, I think, great access points
into, like we say,
we're trying to turn the Coltrane Curious
into the Coltrane converted.
You know what I mean?
And a lot of times people talk about
Giant Steps.
Giant Steps is great,
but that's really a thing for nerds, right?
That belongs in the nerd nook
more than anything I would say.
You really missed an opportunity here
for Coltrane curious
to Coltrane purist.
Purist.
Purest, I like it.
Could have linked that up.
We'll fix it in post.
Yeah.
But, yeah, it's just to say that,
like these are not, and I really think, hopefully we're going to be able to show today, too,
that John Coltrane, like his lyricism, his, the beauty of his sound was such a foundation.
It's not just all the crazy stuff that he played that he's known for.
If you listen to Live the Vanguard, well, the Impressions record, which is from Live of the Vanguard,
they came out and was recorded this same year.
It's a whole other way of playing in a way, but hopefully we're going to show some connections.
So I thought it'd be fun to just take things back a little bit.
We're not going to go all the way back to the very beginning of Coltrane.
but we're going to go back to 1957.
This is only six years before 63,
obviously, if my math is correct.
I'm a pianist, so, you know, there's that.
But this is, you know, you can look at Coltrane as different.
There was the Coltrane playing with Monk
and then Coltrane playing with Miles
and then he came back to Monk
and then he went back to Miles.
So there's those two connections
and that cross-pollinization.
But this is Ruby, My Deere, of course,
composition of Thelonius Monks.
This is from 1957 Coltrane and Monk.
We're already hearing that.
beautiful tone, that lyrical,
the joining
approach to the melody.
And, I mean, such
incredible playing, you know,
just one little melody like that.
I mean, it really, that demonstrates, I think,
why people are so attracted to
Coltrane, but also Monk,
it's like, you can hear
in just those first few notes
from that first phrase, you can hear like this,
this kind of sound really grandiose
and maybe kind of stupid, but you can hear
the truth. Like, you can hear someone,
who's cutting through to the truth.
There's a purity to it, right?
We're getting away from frivolity
and getting away from any other BS
that we're going to add to the music.
I just want what matters.
Just the facts, ma'am.
No, it's not even just like,
there's a lot of raw beauty in it.
It's just like, let's get to the point with this
and like let's do this
the way that human beings recognize each other
in this incredibly raw, like, pure way,
this like person-to-person way.
Yeah, better than anybody.
Yeah.
cutting them. And Monk is there too.
Well, and I think Monk very much in his music,
his compositional style lends itself to that. We could
say that Coltrane learned some of that,
you know, from being in that situation, certainly with Miles
too. But, you know, Coltrane's like
29, 30 years old. He's still pretty young
at this point. The next year, 1958,
this is one of his most famous
tracks.
And famous compositions.
Blue Train, Blue Nut Records.
One more course to get a little bit
into the solo. We should do Blue Tane.
Yeah. But a lot of times people point towards this as being the best entry point to train.
And I would only say, yes, it's a great record. But check out the way he's so long on here
compared to what we're going to listen to today.
He's jumping in there, right? Bluesy. Just the greatest.
But if that was your first time coming into here, train, it might be a little bit jarring, right?
Yeah. I mean, I think this is what we were talking about in the setup is like if like,
oh, yeah, Blue Train. It's a beautiful sounding record, of course, and like the arrangements with the horns are
are beautiful.
But yeah, you're right.
It could be a little jarring
if you haven't heard
that kind of music before.
Yeah, but he had different sides to him.
So just one year later,
this is, of course,
blue and green from Kind of Blue,
Miles Davis.
It just stops in your tracks.
It really does.
It sounds like a written-out solo
or like its own tune, you know,
or something.
It kind of resets you a little bit.
And then from the same record,
same year,
1959, is of course,
Freddie Freeloader.
I mean, we could go through
all of Trained Solo.
Oh, we're about to.
No, we're not.
There's the only other one.
But again, here,
the greatest moments
in musical history,
right?
It's arresting, right?
I mean, it just, like,
grabs a hold of you, right?
Well, because Witten's solo,
and Miles is solo,
up to this point,
so different,
in the pocket,
grieving, pretty even,
comes in as like,
again, we're cutting straight through.
Cutting straight through.
But there's a purity,
I mean, that's like Coltrane's hallmark,
right?
A directness, a purity,
but a beauty.
Nothing.
cute about it.
But again, if you're not ready for this, you're like, whoa.
And then, of course, a year later, 1960.
Now, this is for music nerds.
Yeah, this is, and this is so great.
But again, like, if you're like, oh, I want to get into jazz,
John Coltrane Giant Steps, yeah.
Like, what the hell's going on?
Yeah, you know, what's a major third?
I mean, there's a beauty and a symmetry here and a logic that I think that
the everyday listener can connect with.
But it's a lot to grab hold of.
especially the soul.
This is not an, what's it,
Anise Bouch, Amis Bouch?
This is like the end of the main chorus
at the 12 years.
Yeah.
So that's kind of, you know,
sort of leading up.
And then, you know,
Coltrane, 61, 62.
Actually, he kind of had
another period where, you know,
he was using Eric Dolfi,
another horn player.
Two bass players.
Two bass players a lot of times
and got into some really,
you know, well, this is impressions
from the vanguard in that period.
Same year, right?
63.
This is actually came out in 63.
I think it's the 62.
We record it.
And like this whole way of playing,
like, less approachable for sure,
but beautiful, right?
So all this stuff is great.
It's all sort of part of the lineage
and it's just over a few years.
But when we get to 1963,
and we're going to look at and listen first
to my one and only love,
which is from John Coltrane
and Johnny Hartman, wonderful vocalists.
This is written by Guy Wood and Robert Mellon,
my one and only love.
This album,
and the ballads album
are also great
a recording example
of McCoy Tyner at his best
Yes
Also in solo
pianist McCoy Tyner
Yep
And Elvin Jones
who's such an architect
on these records
Doesn't even come in yet
Like this arrangement is fantastic
And this is kind of
You know the iconic version
of this tune
Simple Ballad Temple
Without the drums
Jimmy Garrison
Half notes
McCoy playing every quarter note
Basically
Yeah
Hinting at the
double time, right? But Train is very much still just beautifully stating the melody, pretty much
just right on. Well, Formata. Amazing.
One of the all-time great setups. Yep. Very simple over the five. Elvin with the, oh,
the brushes. Man, how can you not sing great with that setup, right?
Anybody got a cigarette?
This is a beautiful, romantic.
Harvard. Oh, and McCoy is like super busy with his
competent, but it's all works.
Everything. Everything in my bank account.
I get everything in my bank got to feel this thing like that.
This is where actually one of my quival bits,
RVG, I come in handy with this mix.
I know because of how much, you know,
it's not great for the pianist, but it works.
But I mean, that brush, that snare drum,
you can't record that. The voice. The voice.
Jimmy Garrison, everybody, culturing.
I feel your lips so long
So yeah
I mean this one's just
That's a sort of legendary track
So I'm starting the playlist out with that
Because I feel like
If you're never listen to Coltrane
If you're culting culting curious
And you come in and listen to that
And you're like
Eh, that's not for me
And you know what?
I don't really have a lot more
I'm not going to throw giant steps at you
And you're going to be like
Start there
Start with my own own love
I think so
Yeah so and then you know
Talking about McCoy Tyner's solos
This isn't even one of the tracks on there
But I've got
You are two beautiful
Another great ballad on this same record.
Check out McCoy's solo.
You are too beautiful and I am a fool.
And how he comes out of the melody on this and they go into the other field.
Hey.
This is where me and Rudy have problems.
Cascading.
But that's subtle Elvin.
Peak McCoy?
Maybe.
I think early 60s is Peak McCoy.
And everybody loves the real McCoy, this era.
Come on.
And Elvin and Jimmy Garrison's support on this.
So perfect.
This is kind of a low-key, kind of a perfect solo.
I'm going to throw that out there.
Anyway, that's not even one of the tracks,
but I just wanted to kind of throw that in there for you.
All right, let's go on to the next tune on the playlist.
This is from the Ballad's record.
So it's all instrumental, fantastic record.
This is a little bit lesser-known,
Harry Warren, Great American Songbook, Composition, I Wish I New.
And I love, there's something that has.
happens in here. I want
you to confirm this. It should be done in
the nerd. I cannot confirm nor deny.
I think there's an open studio moo
happening in here. I wonder if that's what they called it.
I wonder if it was marked that in the chart.
Now, how train comes in out of the park every time,
McCoy. They just come right in on
the time. It's high level. Yeah.
Trains leaving a lot of space
from McCoy. It's crazy
how good it is. Yeah. How
beautiful.
Then he comes out of this Lydian.
This next phrase, the way he approaches.
and listen for the move.
I think you might have moot.
I think you moved there.
I think you might have mood a little bit.
You know what's so great about the premise of this for you,
this episode here is like,
if you're new to jazz, right?
You are expecting to hear stuff like this.
Like, this is the kind of thing you want to hear.
You know what I mean?
And this delivers,
but again, again, in a way that is so soulful
and so honest.
Yeah.
Right?
That it's like, it's deeper than coffee house.
some BS coffee house Spotify playlists.
I can see you even like that.
I can't even say that on this episode?
I don't want to say it in the presence of Trains music.
You know what I mean?
Right.
But it's like that's just a cheap rip-off caricature of like some kind of like all it gets
is like the visuals of a, but this is the thing.
Like you want a jazz club vibe.
You want to be sophisticated.
Yeah.
It's no problem that you haven't got it yet in your life.
Now is your time.
But you come in with this.
There's so many layers there.
You know, come for the beauty, stay for the moochore.
That's right.
You know what I mean?
That's right.
It's like there's so much.
cool stuff. I can tell you having listening to these records over and over again. It's like,
you know, there's a lot of great movies out there, but there's not that many movies that
what you could watch over and over and still be discovering things. Something you might call
like a, I don't know, like a rewatchable. A rewatchable kind of movie. Exactly. Now, a lot of this stuff,
you know, is very atmospheric, romantic, even cinematic. And I think this next track, a lot of folks
will recognize it directly from the introduction. One of the most iconic piano,
rhythm section introductions ever.
The greatest.
The great Duke Allington.
They love Jones,
the mental mood.
Oh, that crunchiness, man.
Alvin.
Like the swishiness of the high hats,
the symbols going.
It's like you're viewing,
it's like you're seeing it
in a blur a little bit of a fog
and then there's like this clarity
of the other part, you know,
the melody.
Yeah.
And this orchestral thing that...
This is the greatest, man.
This album, Duke
and John Coltrane is the greatest.
This is what we played at the top
that take the Coltradeus from this as well.
Yeah, exactly.
So good.
Yeah, and I mean, it's very much
too, like, along the lines of,
on these three records,
you know, Johnny Harbman, John Coltrane,
Duke Ellington, John Coltrane,
and ballads, you know,
mostly Great American Songbook,
but then a few of these,
which I would really consider
straddling the line
between Great American Songbook
and greatest jazz compositions of all time.
Like, is in a sentimental movie?
That's great American songbook, right?
It's a jazz standard.
Right.
Lush Life, probably the greatest standard, in my opinion, ever written by Billy Strayhorn.
My Little Brown Book.
Correct take on that.
Yeah.
And like, The way they're put together.
And shout out Bob Thiel, who produced every one of these records.
I mean, he was the head of Impulse all through the 60s.
Impulse.
Creed Taylor left.
Prushing it in this era.
Yeah, yeah.
Everything's recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios, all these records.
And all released in 1963.
I mean, just like...
Bad for pianists, great for everybody else.
Everybody else sounds amazing.
Exactly.
Speaking of Lush Life, that's actually track number four.
We might get through all the tracks on this playlist, which we rarely do.
Should we listen to a little bit of that?
Please.
Okay.
Oh.
I know.
Okay.
Let's just talk about this.
This might be the most concise, greatest piano intro ever.
How come I can't resonate like that?
If McCory was here, you'd be able to.
Just check this out.
There you go.
Just the facts.
Those come what.
What?
Where one relaxes on the a axis of the wheel of life
To get the feel of the...
Man, I don't know what McCoy just played there, but...
No.
From jazz and cocktail.
The straight horn 16 when he wrote this?
Yeah.
The words and the music.
Distongage.
That used to be there, you could see where they'd been washed away.
The way McPoy's walking with him, a head behind, behind.
and with.
12 o'clock tail
then you came along.
So this is just an incredible thing.
Check the whole thing out.
We have a link to the playlist.
I want to just to jump ahead
to John Coltrane solo.
Although, am I getting ahead of myself?
This might be...
Oh, no, it's not on my apex moments.
There's so many apex moments.
That's good I don't have it.
I want to just play Trainsolo
because the transition going in
is one of the most genius
elven moments of all time.
Where can people hear all this?
We got a playlist for them?
We have a playlist on a little thing
that a little startup we are helping out.
Spotify.
Check out the show notes where you can go to the bespoke playlist from our own Peter Martin on this.
I think I got a pretty good order on this year of John Coltrane.
Yeah.
This is for the long LushLine.
Once they're already in time.
This is one of my FX moments, actually, the end of LushLive.
Yeah.
Well, this is actually before the train solo.
But the end is incredible, too.
In some small dive and there will be while I rock.
Oh, that core.
But check out how Elvin
percolates and affects the transition here.
Trains.
Not much 20th century music owes to these moments.
Man, you know how much, so much 20th century music owes to moments like that on all of these recordings?
Amazing.
Amazing.
And these are just a few.
I mean, there's always, you know, cool, great moments.
But if every moment is great, then nothing is special.
You know what I mean?
I don't think that's how that works.
I don't think that's how that works.
I don't think that's...
But that's what I'm talking about.
The layers on the zero seconds.
No, but I mean, there's all these little things
you can kind of start to go in
and pick out your favorites,
which is really fun.
Yeah, so, I mean, that's lush.
Of course, Billy Strainon's probably
most famous composition outside of Take the A-Train.
But this next tune, which is from...
Actually, which one of these is this from?
Oh, it's from the Duke Ellington.
They start to all become one record after a while.
But this is another Billy Strain, lesser known,
but I think one of his greatest tunes,
My Little Brown Book.
Duke Allentonelington.
piano course. I believe this is Sam Woodyard on drums here and Arab Bell.
Let's just lay back.
Nobody make any sudden, you know, it's just, come on, we're grown folks.
That is a grown person's moment. Amazing, man.
I keep saying amazing because I'm just amazed every time.
Like, there's no other artists that hits me as hard as John Coltrane.
every, every single time.
And this is what I'm saying, all he's doing is playing the melody.
No, but there's something, you know what I mean?
There's something, like I said, there's an earned honesty that happens in his playing,
in his tone, and his phrasing, and his choices.
Yeah.
That is, it's so inspiring.
Like, there's a lot of other stuff that he can and does do sometimes,
but on these records, he's really just, you know, he's just doing his thing.
Well, talking about just, you know, lyricism,
beauty in the tone. I found this little excerpt. There's only a couple of interviews, audio of John Coltrane.
Amazingly, I couldn't even find any video interviews. But check out in his own words in this little
snippet from a 1960 interview.
On this show, you claim that you were trying to get, as I understood it, a more beautiful
sound. What do you mean with that?
Well, I hope to play not necessarily a more beautiful sound, though I would like to, you know,
just say tone-wise.
like to be able to produce a more beautiful sound.
But now I'm primarily interested in trying to work what I have,
what I know down into a more lyrical line.
You know, that's what I mean, my beautiful, right?
More lyrical.
So to be, you know, easily understood.
So it's interestingly talks about that
because there is, there's beauty in the tone,
you know, saxophone is thinking about vibrato,
intonation, you know, affectation of the sound,
all these different things that you have,
but him focusing on the lyrics and the lyricism,
I think on these records with these great standard tunes,
I think he had such a great,
that's how he could just play those melodies
so straight and so powerfully, so direct.
And so interesting that the way he qualifies that is like,
I want to play more in a more lyrical way
so that I can be more easily understood.
That's a really interesting take.
Like, I want to be more easily understood.
I'm playing more lyrically.
Yeah.
I'm telling you, man.
Mission accomplished?
Yeah, it's really the North Star
for all of us. Let's get to some categories, Peter.
So Apex Moments, you have Coltrane solo
on My Little Brown Book.
Yeah. Can we just check it out? And then you can tell me if you.
It's copying, too, the way they just interacted.
Gorgeous.
Kind of spurred some of that all.
Yeah, dude was a crazy copper.
Yeah.
Never looking at any transcriptions.
Yeah, I just, I love that solo.
I think that's kind of where he's, it's the intersection of like all
the crazy stuff he can do. He's doing some of it, but it's super
direct and lyrical. But he's almost letting Duke say, it's okay, you can go to
some of that crazy kind of stuff.
What do you have for your apex? My apex moment is
just the last few seconds of Lush Life. Just the way they end it.
There's nothing super special about it, but I don't know, it always stands out to me,
especially in that Johnny Hartman album, the way they end the tune. Can we hear a little bit of
the end?
Let's do it.
I don't know.
There's something about it that just really, I really love.
You talk about lyrical.
Yeah, it's just beautiful.
I love that so much.
And I love the note that Johnny Hartman picks.
I love what Train does.
I love what all of them are doing.
Sue you.
Sue me.
Don't, please don't.
Bespoke playlist title.
If this were on a Spotify playlist,
what would the name of the title of a possible playlist?
I mean, we already have like,
coffee house there.
Right, right.
We don't want to talk.
I'm already second-guessing mine, so once you go first, and then we'll circle back to me.
I have a couple.
I have the 1963 Baby Boom.
You know what I'm talking about?
You know what I'm talking about.
I think there were probably some kids born in late 63, early 64, that owe it to some of these records, if you know, I'm concerned.
Right.
And then I have Japanese whiskey commercial bangers.
Totally, totally.
Yeah, for sure.
I've got Get On Board the Smooth Train, T-R-A-N-E-1963.
but I'm not let's not let's not
settle in all that too much because that's not
one of my better ones. If you play all of these
on Spotify, what would be the
up next? What would be a good up next?
Well, I think kind of blue.
I know we mentioned a lot but you know
sketches of Spain, you know, in terms of
like cinematic, atmospheric,
thematic for sure.
It's a great call. But also a great up next
if you love this
you know, come for the ballads, stay
for Crescent. Which came out the next year.
You know what I'm saying?
This shouldn't be on a poster.
Peter Martin, come for the ballads, stay for the Crescent.
You know, you started out curious.
Now you're in there.
Crescent's your next step.
Now you're serious.
Serious.
Yeah, exactly.
You're converted.
Your coal chain converted.
So now it's time for Crescent.
Great record from 1964.
I think probably my top choice for up next
would be Nancy Wilson and Cannibal Adderley,
especially off of the Johnny Hartman.
I think those really pair nicely together.
And then also, Chet Baker sings would be an obvious one.
Again, a similar vibe, similar era.
What about quibble bits?
Peter, anything to quibble with.
My only quibble bit is my usual one, the Van Gelder piano sound.
I feel like McCoy is scrunched this way, scrunch that way, then triangulate and then put into a little box.
Did it.
They didn't even have computers to do that back in the day.
They had to do that with microphones.
Yeah.
But like I mentioned earlier, I do think that because of this idea of, like there's only so much you can fit into the stereo soundscape, right?
into the areas that we have
coming at us from the speakers.
So the piano can take over everything.
I think that the drums is a 10 out of 10.
I think Johnny Hartman's voice, 10 out of 10.
I think Coltrane's sound on these impulse recordings
at Van Gelder Studios is like the perfect sound of, you know,
everything, Jimmy Garrison.
I think the piano is thin,
and I think it's kind of at the expense of everything else being perfect maybe.
The thing is I still like we're geeking out.
It's not like we're not loving McCoy's playing.
Playing is so good.
It didn't ruin his playing.
and it's, it sounds good in the mix, actually.
Like, when everybody's playing together,
when McCoy's comping, it really works.
When you played that McCoy solo
with the rhythm section, it was nice.
It was tasty.
I mean, the solo's nice and tasty,
but my heart drops a little bit.
It does, because compared to the drums,
super weak.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you have any quibble bits?
I don't.
The piano sound is definitely a ditto for me.
But other than that, I really don't have any.
All of three of these are near perfect albums.
Yeah.
Snomometer.
Snobometer.
How snobity?
Snobody is this?
I don't think this is very snobby.
In fact, I put a four,
and now that I'm thinking
it could easily be like a two or a three even.
I mean, there's always a snobbiness with anything Coltrane,
I think, because it's undeniable.
Yeah.
I mean, you can never be like,
oh, Coltine sucks, man.
Everybody knows Coltrane's good.
But I do think that the true jazz snobs are going to feel like
these are some of the most commercially viable,
most accessible records,
which I don't think is a bad thing.
I think it's a good thing.
I think Coltrane's playing is super,
well presented here.
So, I don't know.
I almost put lower, so more
towards like the accessible meter to, like a two or three.
But it is cold trains.
You know what it is? It's the truth, like we were talking about.
Like, his ability to cut through the truth
is uncomfortable sometimes.
The truth is not always easy
to take down. Because he has this
incredibly honest sound,
sometimes it's harder than if it were like,
say, someone like Ben Webster or Lester Young,
right? That are going to give you a very
syrupy, sunny,
Collins, like this really beautiful, big sound.
Sometimes Coltrane sound.
Coltrane, not beautiful.
No, absolutely gorgeous.
Got it.
The most beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful,
because it's a little bit more on the raw, on a side of things.
For sure.
For sure.
But wouldn't you say that these records, these three records are some of his most, you know,
sonically, like in terms of his sound, because of the material,
the way that he plays and wraps himself within this material is some of the most accessible.
you know what I mean?
Yeah, for sure.
It's still direct.
It's still train,
but it's still some of the easiest to access.
I think it's the most accessible for sure.
Is it better than kind of bloom?
No, but I mean...
I have maybe.
Yeah, I see that.
I might be equal with it.
I mean, I got no problem with shifting this into there
in terms of, you know,
Apex Mountain or Desert Island Records.
I think these three albums that you picked out,
ballads, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane,
and...
I didn't pick them.
They picked me.
No, and Johnny Hartman.
I think if you would have put,
if they were to come out as one album
of like Coltrane plays ballads with these legends,
that are the kind of blue.
But maybe.
So what about just Hartman record?
Because that would be seen as the greatest of these three,
I think in terms of popularity.
Honestly, I think all three are pretty equal.
Yeah.
At least in my guys,
I think they're all very close.
Yeah.
And I think when you put them together like you have,
it's pretty unstoppable.
Yeah.
I give it a nine.
I mean, all three covers are great,
classic impulse records.
there's nothing wrong with them.
Impulse killing covers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it's great.
Okay, so like,
that was really fun.
That was fun, man.
Yeah,
hope you guys enjoyed.
This is our first,
like, breaking into a couple of different records,
our own little bespoke curated playlist,
if you will.
You've put two horrible words right together,
bespoke curated playlist.
Yeah, man.
So maybe we go out on a ballot?
Yeah.
How about that?
Yeah, that.
Yeah, yeah.
You don't know what love is.
Yeah.
It's a nice one.
That's a classic one.
Hey, give it up for Bob DeBoo on the bass.
Caleb Kirby on the drums.
Don't forget about our incredible rhythm section.
Yeah.
And leave us to a rating and review.
Oh, we'll go back to that.
Good to leave us to a little.
Gentlemen or ladies' agreement.
If you know what that is you want to go back in time.
Good job, man.
Yeah.
See you next time.
Until next time.
You'll hear it.
