Standards

by John Coltrane

Overview

Every five years since 1986, the corporate custodians of Impulse! have served up batches of Coltrane reissues and unreleased tapes to commemorate a birthday ending in "0" or "5." In the year 2001, which would have been Coltrane's 75th birthday, current label owner Vivendi Universal delivered four single CDs, three of which serve tourists who want to get on the 'Trane for the first time. Standards is probably the least eventful of the lot, offering no unreleased material or particularly enticing packaging. But you won't get shortchanged by the music, which takes us from the first galvanic Impulse! album Africa/Brass ("Greensleeves") through the run of projects by Coltrane's classic quartet of the first half of the '60s (McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones). The tour makes stops at the Village Vanguard for a driving "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," at Birdland for "I Want to Talk About You," a studio date with the dark-honeyed baritone of Johnny Hartman caressing "Lush Life" and "Autumn Serenade." You won't find any examples of the wilder, atonal Coltrane beyond 1965 -- which is just as well since there aren't too many standards to choose from. As a program of Coltrane music, this one plays pretty well, mixing up the tempos and meters astutely. Yet you wonder how representative an album labeled "standards" can be that doesn't include the most famous Coltrane-covered standard of all, "My Favorite Things," among other things. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	08/21/2001
Label:	Impulse!
UPC:	0731454991421

Tracks

1. All or Nothing at All
2. Greensleeves
3. Lush Life
4. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
5. I Want to Talk About You
6. The Inch Worm
7. Autumn Serenade
8. Feeling Good
9. What's New?
10. Out of This World

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Coltrane   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
John Coltrane Quartet   Primary Artist
Johnny Hartman   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals
Elvin Jones   Guest Artist,Drums
McCoy Tyner   Guest Artist,Piano
Julius Watkins   French Horn
Julian Priester   Euphonium
Jimmy Garrison   Bass
Reggie Workman   Bass
Art Davis   Bass
Booker Little   Trumpet
Garvin Bushell   Reeds,Piccolo
James Buffington   French Horn
Charles "Majeed" Greenlee   Euphonium
Renee Rosnes   Sequencing
Billy Barber   Tuba
Robert Swisshelm   French Horn
Donald Corrado   French Horn
Robert Northern   French Horn
Eric Dolphy   Clarinet (Bass),Sax (Alto),Conductor,Flute
Freddie Hubbard   Trumpet

Technical Credits

Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Peter DeRose   Composer
McCoy Tyner   Arranger
Arthur Altman   Composer
Allan Tucker   Mastering
Frank Loesser   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bob Haggart   Composer
Bob Thiele   Original Recording Producer
Billy Eckstine   Composer
Jack Lawrence   Composer
Creed Taylor   Producer
John Coltrane   Liner Notes
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Sammy Gallop   Composer
Richard Seidel   Producer,Selection
Billy Strayhorn   Composer
Bryan Koniarz   Production Supervisor
Sigmund Romberg   Composer
Anthony Newley   Composer
Johnny Burke   Composer
Chuck Stewart   Photography
Hollis King   Art Direction
Isabelle Wong   Design
Robert Haggart   Composer
Peter Rose   Composer
Ken Druker   Executive Producer