Album of the week: John Coltrane - Olé

[AfricaBrass]

The Album of the Week for May 11 - 17 as picked by AfricaBrass (and by vote) is:

John Coltrane - Olé (click here to buy)

The Album of the Week works this way, the person who picks the cd for this week will nominate the person who will pick the cd for next week. AfricaBrass picked this week's title and nominated pryan to pick the album for May 18-24.

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Past albums of the week:

May 4 - 10: Andrew Hill - Grass Roots

April 26 - May 3: Weather Report - Black Market

April 13 - 26: Lee Morgan - Live at the Lighthouse

April 6 - 12: Charles Mingus - Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus

March 30 - April 5: Wayne Shorter - The All Seeing Eye

March 23 -29: Donald Byrd - Byrd in Hand

[dave9199]

There's a song on Miles Davis's "Someday My Prince Will Come" called "Teo" that Coltrane played on and one part sounds just like "Ole". This was just 2 months before Coltrane recorded it. I think this may ne where the idea for the song came from.

[Jazzmoose]

Oh, sh*t! I was just at Borders and forgot about this! I suppose it's too late to change it to Sly & the Family Stone's Greatest Hits....?

[Alexander Hawkins]

It's based on a Spanish Civil War song, known by several titles, but "Venga Jaleo" is the one I know...

Doesn't it appear somewhere on Charlie Haden's 'Liberation Music Orchestra', as well..?

Will be back with something more substantial (hopefully) to say when I've re-listened to this one a bit. For now, all I'll commit to is that I think McCoy Tyner's 'Aisha' is a really beautiful composition.

[AfricaBrass]

Oh, sh*t! I was just at Borders and forgot about this! I suppose it's too late to change it to Sly & the Family Stone's Greatest Hits....?

If you want to talk about Sly, that's cool with me. I dig them! I still need to pick up the new 2 cd Essential set.

As for Ole, I've got my copy with me right now.

:rsmile:

[pryan]

Sorry to interrupt the discussion surrounding OLE, but I figure this is a good place to announce that my selection for next week's AOTW will be SONNY MEETS HAWK. I just got this album recently and it was actually my choice in AfricaBrass' poll, in which it finished last (or next to last). I think SONNY MEETS HAWK is a good choice and should stimulate some interesting discussion. It shouldn't be too hard to find for most people, as it was re-issued in 1999, I think.

edit: I nominate Red to choose the AOTW for May 25-31

Anyway, back to the OLE discussion...

Edited May 12, 2003 by pryan

[catesta]

Oh, sh*t! I was just at Borders and forgot about this! I suppose it's too late to change it to Sly & the Family Stone's Greatest Hits....?

[JohnS]

Again something I've not played for a while. I didn't recall it being a classic Coltrane date and from playing it again I don't think I'll change my mind. For me the meat of the date is Ole. I don't hear it as being especially Spanish, more a My Favorite Things meets Africa Brass. The rest of the disc seems rather ordinary, Trane kicks off his Dahomey Dance (not very African considering the title) solo with his stock blues phrases and it all seems a little casual. It's all listenable and interesting, maybe they were just fulfilling their Atlantic contract, recording as they did for Impulse a day or two earlier.

[Clunky]

All of the Coltrane Atlantics have something special about them that brings them above most of the Prestige era Trane. This disc was the last I added to my collection(although i haven't added the date with Cherry or Bags as these don't appeal). Great tunes and some Dolphy what more could you want. Also accessible for neos afraid of the Impulse stuff.

This is as good as the rest but for my money if you could only have one of the Atlantics it would be "Plays the blues"

[AfricaBrass]

After reading this thread, I was starting to wonder if I had made a bad choice. I hadn't actually listened to this album in a couple years and I was going on how much I remembered liking it.

So, three days into this album of the week, I finally put it on.

I LOVED IT!

I'm not going to write a detailed review of it right now, but I really love when Coltrane takes me away to another land like he does on Ole. I forgot how much I dug Dolphy's flute playing and I even like Hubbard. I love the brashness of his early playing. I thought these guys kept up just fine. Ah, the joys of Tyner's chords. I loved that style. I'm a big fan of east indian music and I really dig the drones and feel of this first track. The twin basses are very cool and Elvin. What can I say about Elvin?

Dahomey Dance. I didn't really remember this track as much as Ole. I thought it was just fine. I dig Dolphy's AnGuLar solo. Hubbard is having a fine time. Coltrane's great as usual. There's something about Coltrane's playing that I don't get from anyone else. I love it that much! Tyner's solo is nice, but I just love his comping.

Aisha. I like this it's nice. Overall, I think this is a fine date. For me ALL of Coltrane's Atlantic's are GREAT. I really enjoy this period of his development. I've always thought Dolphy was a great foil for Coltrane.

:rsmile:

[AfricaBrass]

Haven't listened to it in a long time, but I recall it as a great CD to have on while a storm's coming in.

That's a great observation!

I'll have to do that during the next storm.

I can just picture the storm building up with the music.

[Chuck Nessa]

Something to remember - this was the last Atlantic date - recorded between sessions for Africa/Brass. To me, in this context, Trane seems to be holding back. The Impulse jump was at least as big as the Prestige/Atlantic jump.

[connoisseur series500]

Geez, the week is going fast and I haven't yet commented on this cd.

I've been listening to it over the last few days. Great session!

The two bassists are incredible; McCoy is his usual great self. Trane is Trane. Freddie Hubbard plays wonderfully, and Eric Dolphy only messes up one song: I don't care for his solo on "Dahomey Dance." It seems that he is focusing on trying to make his alto sound like a bass clarinet (maybe it is one and the cd credits are wrong.) Anyway, I don't particularly care for Mr. Dolphy's music in general and got rid of all my cds where he was the session leader. He does a creditable job on the other songs.

Haven't yet read the analysis on this thread yet, so it will be interesting to see what the others thought. I know a lot of people are nuts about Dolphy, but he does nothing for me.

This session sounds like an Impulse session. This is Trane at his prime, in my opinion. He and McCoy worked so well together. Evin Jones is dynamite. This is a solid 5 stars (on a scale of 5) I am now going back to my Impulse Trane collection and listening to them all over again. Thanks Ole!

BTW, what do you guys think of Pharoah Sanders' version of Ole on his "Heart is a Melody" cd? His version isn't as good in my opinion. Does a lot of screaming on it and it is emotionally charged, but Trane's version is a masterpiece.

My Sanders cd is for sale, btw, if anyone is interested.

[Cali]

Have always loved this album. Great solos by all, and that bass thing that Art Davis and Reggie Workman do on the title track is off the hook. Eric's solo on Aisha is worth the price of the album by itself.

As a side note, did you know Eric had an alias on the original LP? If anyone knows the alias he used, you win a free subscription to the new, revised BNBB, whenever (if ever) it re-launches.

[AfricaBrass]

As a side note, did you know Eric had an alias on the original LP? If anyone knows the alias he used, you win a free subscription to the new, revised BNBB, whenever (if ever) it re-launches.

I was going to make a joke about the alias. I was going to mention that George Lane fellow and how much Eric Dolphy ripped off his style.

[Alexander]

I hadn't listened to this on in a long while before I spun it last night. Man, what a great disc.

Trane captured right at a period of transition, between the Atlantic period and the Impulse sound. Amazing.

Hubbard and Dolphy play their asses off. Davis and Workman on bass...so organic I STILL can't tell them apart.

Great stuff. Good pick, man!

[Noj]

As a side note, did you know Eric had an alias on the original LP? If anyone knows the alias he used, you win a free subscription to the new, revised BNBB, whenever (if ever) it re-launches. 

I was going to make a joke about the alias. I was going to mention that George Lane fellow and how much Eric Dolphy ripped off his style.

Why would an artist do this alias thing? Contractual reasons?

Are there other examples of this?

[sal]

When an artist was under contract to another record company, alot of times their names became the "property" of the record company for the duration of their contract. This prevented them from using their real names when recording for a different label as a sideman or whatever.

A good example is when "Jazz At Massey Hall" was released, Charlie Parker was listed as "Charlie Chan".

[Cali]

McCoy Tyner was listed on several Blue Note album covers as "etc." (see Night Dreamer, Page One and others). We used to say "I see ol' Etc. is on a new album". I believe the reason was contractual.

P.S. AfricaBrass, you're our lucky winner!

[Alexander Hawkins]

Ferris Benda for Jackie McLean was one I always found quite far out, on the subject of these names. Could he possibly have coupled a fairground attraction with a lesser-known classical composer? Hmm.

[Roundsound]

I just love the title cut. I've always been a sucker for the Spanish and other foreign themes placed into a jazz setting. I'm suprised no one has mentioned the two bass players. There section of the song may be the highlight of the song. Everytime I think of putting Ole in my car, makes the ride enjoyable.

[paul secor]

It's been quite a while since I last listened to this, and when I listened today I understood why that was. I would rather listen to most of Trane's other Atlantic recordings and probably any of the Impulses before this record. It's not a bad record, but, for me, it just doesn't come off. In Ralph Gleason's liner notes, Coltrane is quoted as saying that he was looking to shorten his solos. He does that here, and, to my ears it's not a good thing. Trane needed to stretch out, and he did just that on his forthcoming Impulse sides. The horns just don't seem comfortable on this record, except on Aisha, where everyone sounds relaxed. Aisha is my favorite track on Ole.

Other than everyone's playing on Aisha, my favorite moments came from listening to the rhythm section.

A couple of sidelights - Coltrane was the second musical giant to move from Atlantic to ABC Paramount. A year earlier Ray Charles made the jump.

And the recording engineer on Ole was Phil Ramone, who later made a rep recording rock hits. Tom Dowd recorded most if not all of the other Coltrane Atlantics.