I Own That CD! - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

The majority of music that I blog about falls into the rock/alternative genre, but growing up, jazz music was almost always on the radio and record player. My dad had a great collection of vinyl including 78s of old time jazz. I ended up playing baritone saxophone in my high school jazz band, furthering my love of the genre.

John Coltrane was always one of my favorites for his ever changing styles, from bebop to hard bop and his heavy influence of free jazz. I have a giant subway poster of Coltrane’s Blue Train album framed and hanging in my house (a great gift from my brother).

In 1963, Coltrane teamed up with the amazing jazz singer, Johnny Hartman to produce what many in the industry feel is a top ten jazz album of all time. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman remains a favorite of mine and it’s today’s feature on I Own That CD!

Both Coltrane and Hartman had worked with Dizzy Gillespie’s band in the 1940s, but their time never overlapped. When they arrived at the studio they had no charts, no prior arrangements worked out, the recordings were done a bit on the fly, but all the musicians knew these songs by heart. This is the only album Coltrane ever made with a vocalist.

Johnny Hartman’s baritone voice blends perfectly with Coltrane’s tenor sax that is the vocal extension of the saxophonist’s sound. Each song was done in only one take, except “You Are Too Beautiful” which required two takes because drummer extraordinaire Elvin Jones dropped one of his drumsticks during the first take.

This record served a double purpose: It brought back into the public ear one of the most neglected singers of the middle bop era and it proved that Coltrane and his band could relax a bit and be a backing band.

Their versions of “Lush Life” and “My One and Only Love” have never been topped (sorry Nat King Cole) and the CD is the perfect accompaniment to a late night drink or a quiet night in with the lights down low.

It was rare that two giants would do something like this, but we’re all better for them doing it. It’s a master class in jazz music and you can borrow the CD if you’d like.