JOHN COLTRANE
Traneing In
Prestige
Rudy Van Gelder Remasters Series
Traneing In is a 1957 album released
with John Coltrane as the leader, accompanied by the Red
Garland trio, comprised of pianist Garland, bassist Paul
Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor. This is the same year
that Trane was working with Thelonious Monk, a major event
in the development of his playing at that time. Here he
is relaxed and blowing swinging blues with a rhythm section
that certainly knows how to swing.
These guys were, basically, the first Miles
Davis Quintet, minus Miles, and with Taylor on drums instead
of Philly Joe Jones. So the parts all lock into place perfectly,
with Garland providing his familiar block chord style and
tasty solos. “Traneing In,” the opening original
track, is a blues-based number that simply lets this group
do its thing in a relaxed manner. The results are easy and
comfortable as an old pair of jeans. “Bass Blues”
is another blues number, with a pre-hard bop arrangement
featuring Coltrane and Chambers playing the melody line
together before heading into a round of solo choruses.The
set ends with a frantic version of Irving Berlin’s
“Soft Lights and Sweet Music” where the soon
to come kinetic Coltrane starts to assert itself. What’s
really great here is hearing his bandmates keep up with,
and even prod him forward.
Then there are two ballads on which Trane
shows he was becoming a master interpreter of ballads: “Slow
Dance” and “You Leave Me Breathless.”
On the former, Chambers’ bass provides the framework
for Coltrane’s romantic tenor statement, and Garland
brings the shimmering chords. The latter is simply gorgeous,
with Trane’s debt to Stan Getz perhaps a bit in evidence.
He uses the entire range of the tenor with ease and assurance,
and his sound is distinctive and recognizable.
There is no way to go wrong with Coltrane’s
Prestige recordings; they form the basis for everything
the saxophonist would go on to do in his later groups and
recordings. It’s instructive for new listeners to
hear him playing in this kind of environment and to realize
where he came from in developing his style. As always, this
RVG remaster sounds terrific, with a warmth that recalls
the old vinyl recordings without the attendant background
noise.
