Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Listening: Coltrane — Crescent

This conversation between Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and composer/bandleader Darcy James Argue, about the John Coltrane albums Crescent, and A Love Supreme, happened on Twitter:




Crescent was the first Coltrane album I ever bought, and actually listened to (the first actual one was Om— a very challenging record, if you've never heard it), but it has always been a little bit of a dark horse for me— compared to other Coltrane recordings, the visceral emotionality I was seeking is very restrained here. It's very deep music, and it was probably too grown-up for me, honestly. Redman summarizes it perfectly in the comment above, and those are all qualities it has taken me a long time to learn to appreciate.

It is one of the very greatest things in 20th century music, and if you haven't listened to Crescent all the way through in a while, or ever, here it is:

1 comment:

Ed Pierce said...

I think Crescent was the first Coltrane album I bought, too, although somebody (my high school jazz band teacher) had made cassette copies of Giant Steps and My Favorite things before that. Honestly, I think I mainly chose this particular Coltrane album to buy because it had a tune on there called "The Drum Thing," but as great as that song is, it wasn't the one that that really stuck with me. "Wise One," "Lonnie's Lament," "Crescent," and the ebullient "Bessie's Blues"--what beautiful melodies and deep playing.