Ballads

by John Coltrane, John Coltrane Quartet

Overview

Throughout John Coltrane's discography there are a handful of decisive and controversial albums that split his listening camp into factions. Generally, these occur in his later-period works such as Om and Ascension, which push into some pretty heady blowing. As a contrast, Ballads is often criticized as too easy and as too much of a compromise between Coltrane and Impulse! (the two had just entered into the first year of label representation). Seen as an answer to critics who found his work complicated with too many notes and too thin a concept, Ballads has even been accused of being a record that Coltrane didn't want to make. These conspiracy theories (and there are more) really just get in the way of enjoying a perfectly fine album of Coltrane doing what he always did -- exploring new avenues and modes in an inexhaustible search for personal and artistic enlightenment. With Ballads he looks into the warmer side of things, a path he would take with both Johnny Hartman (on John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman) and with Duke Ellington (on Duke Ellington and John Coltrane). Here he lays out for McCoy Tyner mostly, and the results positively shimmer at times. He's not aggressive, and he's not outwardly. Instead he's introspective and at times even predictable, but that is precisely Ballads' draw. ~ Sam Samuelson

Product Details

Release Date:	10/09/2020
Label:	Decca / Verve
UPC:	0602508889301
Rank:	28710

Tracks

1. Say It (Over and Over Again)
2. You Don't Know What Love Is
3. Too Young to Go Steady
4. All or Nothing at All
5. I Wish I Knew
6. What's New
7. It's Easy to Remember
8. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Coltrane Quartet   Primary Artist
John Coltrane   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor)
Jimmy Garrison   Guest Artist,Bass
Elvin Jones   Guest Artist,Drums
McCoy Tyner   Guest Artist,Piano
Reggie Workman   Bass

Technical Credits

Frank Loesser   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Bob Haggart   Composer
Gene DePaul   Composer
Bob Thiele   Producer
Jack Lawrence   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
John Coltrane   Composer,Group Member
Elvin Jones   Group Member
Don Raye   Composer
Erick Labson   Digital Remastering
Gene Paul   Composer
Lorenz Hart   Composer
John Coltrane Quartet   Performer
Robert Flynn   Cover Design
Rudy Van Gelder   Engineer
James Van Heusen   Composer
Phil Silvers   Composer
Michael Cuscuna   Reissue Producer
Todd Whitelock   Mastering
Harold Adamson   Composer
Cameron Mizell   Production Coordination
Bill Levenson   Reissue Supervisor
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Mack Gordon   Composer
Gene Lees   Liner Notes
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Jimmy Garrison   Group Member
McCoy Tyner   Group Member
Arthur Altman   Composer
Harry Warren   Composer
Johnny Burke   Composer
Chuck Stewart   Photography
Jeff Adamoff   Cover Art
Hollis King   Art Direction
Isabelle Wong   Package Design
Robert Haggart   Composer
Jason Claiborne   Graphic Design
Joe Lebow   Liner Design
Jim Marshall   Cover Photo,Photography