The story behind puzzle No. 8
John Coltrane · Blue Train · Blue Note · 1957
Three horns state a slow, heavy blues, and the band sounds like a locomotive pulling out of the station. Blue Train was a one-time visit to Blue Note, and it became one of Coltrane's most loved records.
Coltrane recorded Blue Train on September 15, 1957, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. It came out in January 1958, and it was his only session as a leader for Blue Note.
At the time, Coltrane was playing nightly at the Five Spot in Thelonious Monk's quartet. Blue Note also paid musicians to rehearse before a session, something his previous label had not done, and the preparation shows.
Coltrane wrote four of the album's five tunes: Blue Train, Moment's Notice, Locomotion and Lazy Bird. The fifth is the standard I'm Old Fashioned. Listen to how his solos move up and down through each chord, a style that points toward Giant Steps two years later.
In a 1960 interview, Coltrane called Blue Train his favorite of his own albums up to that point.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Moment's Notice next, from the same album. It shows the harmonic puzzles Coltrane was already working on.
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