Various Artists - John Coltrane & Friends - Sideman: Trane’s Blue Note Sessions (2014) [Hi-Res]

John Coltrane only ever cut one album as a leader for Blue Note Records – the monumental Blue Train – but he also recorded on a handful of other sides for the label over the years – all of which are collected here! Truthfully, some of these sets were done for labels that have now become part of the Blue Note fold – and one was a session that was unissued at the time – but together the tracks really illustrate the growing Coltrane of the late 50s – a player who was able to step into different dynamic modes than on his records with Miles Davis, and his early sides for Prestige as a leader.

Our favorites here are two albums with bassist Paul Chambers as the leader – Chambers Music and Whims Of Chambers – both really inventive in their styles and structures, thanks to Paul's unique musical vision – and undoubtedly an influence on the direction that Coltrane would take on the Atlantic and Impulse labels. The set also features the more freewheeling Blowing Session – done with tenorist Johnny Griffin, in a mode that recalls some of Coltrane's more open work for Prestige – as well as the razor sharp Sonny's Crib, with the great pianist Sonny Clark in the lead.

1.01 Paul Chambers - Dexterity (2003 Remaster) (6:46)
1.02 Paul Chambers - Stablemates (2003 Remaster) (5:54)
1.03 Paul Chambers - Easy To Love (2003 Remaster) (3:53)
1.04 Paul Chambers - Visitation (2003 Remaster) (4:55)
1.05 Paul Chambers - Trane's Blues (aka John Paul Jones) (2003 Remaster) (6:56)
1.06 Paul Chambers - Eastbound (2003 Remaster) (4:22)
1.07 Paul Chambers - Trane's Strain (2003 Remaster) (11:01)
1.08 Paul Chambers - High Step (2003 Remaster) (8:11)
1.09 Paul Chambers - Nixon, Dixon And Yates Blues (2003 Remaster) (8:28)
1.10 Paul Chambers - Omicron (2003 Remaster) (7:17)
1.11 Paul Chambers - Whims Of Chambers (2003 Remaster) (4:03)
1.12 Paul Chambers - Nita (2003 Remaster) (6:32)
2.01 Paul Chambers - We Six (Remastered) (7:40)
2.02 Paul Chambers - Dear Ann (Remastered) (4:18)
2.03 Paul Chambers - Tale Of The Fingers (Remastered) (4:41)
2.04 Paul Chambers - Just For The Love (Remastered) (3:42)
2.05 Johnny Griffin - The Way You Look Tonight (Remastered) (9:38)
2.06 Johnny Griffin - Ball Bearing (Remastered) (8:09)
2.07 Johnny Griffin - All The Things You Are (10:12)
2.08 Johnny Griffin - Smoke Stack (Remastered) (10:11)
2.09 Johnny Griffin - Smoke Stack (Alternative Take) (11:01)
3.01 Sonny Clark - With A Song In My Heart (7:52)
3.02 Sonny Clark - Speak Low (6:46)
3.03 Sonny Clark - Come Rain Or Come Shine (7:25)
3.04 Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib (13:24)
3.05 Sonny Clark - News For Lulu (8:29)
3.06 Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib (Alternate Take) (9:53)
3.07 Sonny Clark - Speak Low (Alternate Take) (5:02)
3.08 Sonny Clark - With A Song In My Heart (Alternate Take) (7:57)