John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Studio album by
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
ReleasedJuly or August 1963[1][2]
RecordedMarch 7, 1963
StudioVan Gelder (Englewood Cliffs)
GenreJazz
Length31:11
LabelImpulse!
A-40
ProducerBob Thiele
John Coltrane chronology
Stardust
(1963)		 John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
(1963)		 Live at Birdland
(1964)
Johnny Hartman chronology
And I Thought About You
(1959)		 John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
(1963)		 I Just Dropped by to Say Hello
(1963)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Baltimore Sun(favourable)[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[7]

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is a studio album by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman which was released by Impulse! Records in July or August 1963.[1][2] It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.[8]

Background

Although it is often reported that Coltrane and Hartman had known each other since their days playing with Dizzy Gillespie's band in the late 1940s, their time in the band never overlapped. Coltrane might have heard Hartman sing at a 1950 Apollo Theater performance at which they shared the stage.[9] Hartman is the only vocalist with whom the saxophonist would record as a leader. Initially when producer Bob Thiele approached Hartman with Coltrane's request that the two record together, Hartman was hesitant as he did not consider himself a jazz singer and did not think he and Coltrane would complement one another musically.[10] However, Thiele encouraged Hartman to go see Coltrane perform at Birdland in New York City to see if they could work something out. Hartman did and after the club closed, he, Coltrane and Coltrane's pianist, McCoy Tyner, went over some songs together. On March 7, 1963, Coltrane and Hartman had decided on 10 songs for the record album, but en route to the studio they heard Nat King Cole on the radio performing "Lush Life", and Hartman immediately decided that song had to be included in their album.[11]

Recording and music

They recorded on March 7, 1963, at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Hartman later said that each song was done in only one take, except for "You Are Too Beautiful", which required two takes because Elvin Jones dropped one of his drumsticks during the first take.[10]

Jazz writer Michael Cuscuna explains the speculation of two different versions of the album: "At a later date, Coltrane decided to overdub some additional obbligato saxophone phrases behind Hartman's vocals on 'My One and Only Love', 'Lush Life' and 'You Are Too Beautiful'. A new master was made by Rudy Van Gelder, who added some additional echo to the three tracks. Although the first release of the album used the original master without Coltrane's additional obbligatos, it was later substituted with the new master."[12]

In 2005, the raw tapes were reviewed by jazz archivist Barry Kernfeld, who documented there were actually complete alternate takes for all six songs that he considered "absolutely riveting."[13] Until clear ownership of these tapes is established between the Coltrane family and Universal Music, there are no plans for their release.

Release and reception

The album was announced on July 6, 1963, in Billboard.[14] Bob Thiele produced it and Impulse! released it toward the end of the month. It has become a classic ballad jazz album, and the renditions of "Lush Life", "My One and Only Love", and "They Say It's Wonderful" are considered definitive.[15][16][17] Scott Yanow's five-star review for AllMusic describes the album as "essential for all jazz collections".[3]

Kurt Elling recorded an album in 2009 Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman in tribute to John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."They Say It's Wonderful" (Irving Berlin)5:20
2."Dedicated to You" (Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, Hy Zaret)5:32
3."My One and Only Love" (Guy Wood, Robert Mellin)4:55
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn)5:29
5."You Are Too Beautiful" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)5:36
6."Autumn Serenade" (Peter DeRose, Sammy Gallop)4:19

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Chart (2022) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 57

References

  1. 1 2 DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013). Porter, Lewis (ed.). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 678. ISBN 9780415634632. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 Editorial Staff, Cash Box (August 17, 1963). "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" (PDF). Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 Yanow, Scott. "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman". allmusic.com. AllMusic.
  4. ↑ D. Ollison, Rashod (February 12, 2004). "Some choice sounds for love's big day". The Baltimore Sun.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  6. ↑ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  7. ↑ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 97. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  8. ↑ Tamarkin, Jeff (November 21, 2012). "Coltrane, Mingus, Tristano Recordings Honored by Grammy Hall of Fame: Louis Jordan, James Brown, Ray Charles also Awarded". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ Gregg Akkerman, The Last Balladeer: The Johnny Hartman Story Archived July 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Scarecrow Press (67). Excerpt at JazzTimes.com.
  10. 1 2 John S. Wilson, "POP/JAZZ", The New York Times, May 21, 1982.
  11. ↑ Kahn, Ashley (2007). The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. W. W. Norton. p. 99.
  12. ↑ Cuscuna, Michael (1995). John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (CD booklet). John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. MCA Records. p. 9.
  13. ↑ Akkerman (125).
  14. ↑ "Jazz", Billboard, July 6, 1963
  15. ↑ FRETPLAY : Review : John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman.
  16. ↑ "My One and Only Love (1953)", JazzStandards.com.
  17. ↑ John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman > Overview at Allmusic.
  18. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
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