“I think that (Giant Steps) was my best quartet recording so far, with the exception of maybe Soultrane. I put them both about the same.”
— John Coltrane
Recorded in February 1958 and released later that year on Prestige Records, "Soultrane" captures Coltrane at a crucial turning point. Fresh from six transformative months with Thelonious Monk where he absorbed Monk’s harmonic daring and rhythmic freedom and reunited with Miles Davis, Coltrane was forging his own post-bop language. His “sheets of sound” approach was intensifying, and his early experiments with modal improvisation were beginning to take shape.
For this session, Coltrane reunited with trusted colleagues from the Davis circle: Paul Chambers on bass and Red Garland on piano, joined by drummer Art Taylor, a frequent presence on his Prestige dates. With Prestige’s famously informal, rehearsal-free studio atmosphere, Coltrane chose familiar standards and well-known material that allowed the quartet to focus purely on interpretation and interplay.
The album balances lyricism and velocity. “Good Bait” and the rarely heard “You Say You Care” are handled with melodic clarity and supple swing. On side two, two Irving Berlin compositions are driven at exhilarating tempos, showcasing the quartet’s precision and Coltrane’s surging momentum. The ballad “Theme for Ernie,” written in memory of Ernie Henry, receives a deeply felt, raw interpretation Coltrane’s tenor aching with restrained emotion.
"Soultrane" stands as one of Coltrane’s finest early quartet recordings: a document of transition, confidence, and gathering momentum before the harmonic breakthroughs that would soon redefine modern jazz.
Cut directly from the original analog master tapes, through our unique all valve 1965 Ortofon / Lyrec vinyl cutting system in True Mono*. No equalisation, compression or any other processing was added during the cutting process.
All sleeve artwork made by hand and authentically letter-pressed on a 1963 Heidelberg SB.
This edition of 345 copies is priced at £395.00 UK pounds. Order here.
*Where everything in the chain from the tape head, the tape pre-amplifier, the cutting amplifier and the dedicated mono cutter head is a single channel pathway: This early technology avoids phase issues (smearing of the sound) that is frequently encountered when cutting with todays dual” or “pseudo” mono cutting systems.
