Ballads

During the early '60s, the contentious critical reaction to John Coltrane's music got so over the top that some reactionaries branded his work with Eric Dolphy as "anti-jazz." Having already recorded the exploratory Africa/Brass and Live at the Village Vanguard, Coltrane went along with producer Bob Thiele's suggestion that he do an album of Ballads to silence naysayers once and for all. Ballads, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, and John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman -- a triptych of "traditional" recordings -- italicized the saxophonist's ability to swing in a classic vein, while underscoring his sensitivity as a ballad player. He even managed to impress the moldy fig who penned the original liner notes to Ballads. From the gentle opening strains of "Say It (Over and Over Again)," the saxophonist imparts all the tender yearning and romantic empathy of a mature, compassionate adult. Given his predilection for technical complexities, Coltrane avoids any hint of emotional grandstanding, allowing only for subtle melodic embellishments. On "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "What's New" he displays a glorious tone, achieving a remarkably human vocal timbre in the upper registers, indulging in more pronounced harmonic variations, as the Tyner-Garrison-Jones rhythm axis subtly shifts gears to accommodate these intricacies. Without straying far from the basic themes or giving in to cheap sentiment, the saxophonist sustains a gorgeous melodic focus throughout Ballads, marking this recital as another John Coltrane masterpiece.|