Nachdem 1958 ein eher verschlafenes Jahr (na ja, bei Miles rumgehängt sicher nicht mehr so viel gelernt wie bei Monk, aber anscheinend – wie immer – geübt wie besessen) war, ist 1959 wohl wieder eine Art Schlüsseljahr.
Am 15. Januar 1959 ist Coltrane zum ersten Mal an einer Atlantic Session beteiligt. Unter Leitung von Milt Jackson und mit Hank Jones, Paul Chamber und Connie Kay entsteht das Album Bags & Trane (Atlantic 1368, Rel. Dec. 1961), sowie drei weitere Stücke, die als Seite B von The Coltrane Legacy (Atlantic 1553) erstmals im April 1970 veröffentlicht wurden.
Die Session beginnt etwas verhalten mit „Stairway to the Stars“ (1553), es folgt der schöne „The Late Late Blues“, und die Session steigert sich langsam. Chambers trägt die Hauptlast in der Rhythmusgruppe, Connie Kay wacht erst langsam auf, spielt auf den ersten Stücken fast so zurückhalten, als wäre das MJQ grad neben im Schönheitsschlaf oder so… anyway, „Blues Legacy“ und „Centerpiece“ (beide auch auf Atlantic 1553) sind klasse!
Und überhaupt, Coltrane klingt hier sehr schön, seine Soli sind teilweise sehr eindrücklich – man könnte wohl sagen eine letzte Bestandesaufnahme (vor der Sackgasse und dem modalen Jazz 
).
Am 3. Februar 1959 entstand in Chicago ein Mercury-Album unter Cannonball Adderleys Leitung – mit dabei die Gruppe von Miles ohne ihren Leader: Cannonball (as), Coltrane (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d).
Das Album gefällt mir sehr, sehr gut. Ich vermute auch, dass Cannonball insgesamt von Coltrane ziemlich stark profitieren konnte. Hier sind sie auf jedenfalls Augenhöhe.
Am 26. März 1959, zwischen den beiden Sessions für Miles Davis‘ Klassiker Kind of Blue, ensteht Coltranes erste eigene Session für Atlantic, in der die Stücke „Giant Steps“, „Naima“ und „Like Sonny“ zum ersten Mal eingespielt werden. Mit von der Partie sind Cedar Walton (p), Chambers (b) und Lex Humphries (d). Diese Session wurde erstmals im Januar 1975 auf Alternate Takes (Atlantic 1668) veröffentlicht (zusammen mit Giant Steps Alternate Takes von „Syeeda’s Song Flut“, „Cousin Mary“, „Countdown“, dem Coltrane Jazz Alternate Take „I’ll Wait and Pray“, sowie einem Alternate von „Body and Soul“ von Coltrane Sound)
Von dieser Session ist auf der Bonus-CD (#7) in der Atlantic Box einiges an Outtakes zu hören – das ganze „Session Reel“ (ohne die Master Takes).
Mehr Trivia zu „Giant Steps“ (teilw. im Widerspruch zu denjenigen oben):
The earlier version of „Giant Steps“ moves at a pace of 253 beats per minute, somewhat slower than the originally issued recording. At the slower tempo Coltrane sounds more relaxed and more lyrical. Still, he does not invite Cedar Walton to solo on this difficult piece. (Walton is concentrating hard just to accompany Coltrane correctly.) The little fills that Walton plays during the second half of the theme were developed in the studio. Before the penultimate take, we can hear Coltrane instruct Walton to play those. On May 5, Coltrane recorded the originally issued version of „Giant Steps,“ the title piece of his first Atlantic album as a leader. Here [Joel] Dorn [Produzent des „Heavyweight Champion“ Box-Sets] has managed to locate a take that preceded the issued take, and the one that followed it! Tommy Flanagan is a superb musician, and it is no discredit to him that he found it difficult to solo on this daunting piece. (On the last unissued take he just soloed in chords.) Apparently, Coltrane had the sense to give a lead sheet (melody line and chords) to Flanagan before the recording session. But he did not mention the style, so Flanagan had assumed it was to be played at a slow or medium tempo!
~ Lewis Porter, John Coltrane: The Atlantic Years, im Booklet zu „John Coltrane – The Heavyweight Champion: The Compelte Atlantic Recordings“, p. 13
Zu „Like Sonny“:
With that reel in hand and in the ear, we now know more about Coltrane’s working habits. Every member of the rhythm section has a very specific part to play. On „Like Sonny,“ he instructs Cedar Walton to play in unison with the bass until the saxophone enters with the theme. Coltrane worked for several takes on the complicated Latin rhythm that underpins the theme, and on making the transition from that to a more standard jazz swing feeling. The Latin rhythm shows Coltrane’s interest in African and Latin elements even this early. It is an indication of Coltrane’s genius for composition that this entire piece was developed from a little turning figure that his friend Sonny Rollins liked to use – thus the title „Like Sonny.“ (Joe Goldberg pointed out one place that Rollins may be heard playing this lick: his solo on „My Old Flame“ from Kenny Dorham’s Jazz Contrasts album, May 1957.) Coltrane’s own music manuscripts of this tune and others – 12 pages in all – were reproduced in Coltrane: A Biography by C. O. Simpkins (1975, reprinted in 1989 by Black Classic Press). These important documents deserve to be studied closely.
„Like Sonny“ was constantly developing. In its next incarnation, in December 1959, you can hear that the rhythm has become a ind of bossa nova. A third version was recorded for Roulette Records in September 1960, with Billy Higgins on drums. In this incarnation it was called „Simple Like“ – perhaps short for „Simple Like Sonny“ – and the rhythm has become more free. (Once it was issued as „Simple Life,“ which is suggestive because that is an expression that his cousin Mary likes to use.)~ Lewis Porter, ibid, p. 11
Um die Chronologie rasch herzustellen:
2. März: erste (von zwei) Sessions für Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue
1. April: erste Atlantic Session mit Walton, Chambers, Humphries (s.o.)
2. April: „The Robert Herridge Theater Show“ (Miles Davis Quintet – ohne Adderley – und Gil Evans Orchestra – eine noch bessere Version von „So What“!)
6. April: zweite Session for Miles‘ Kind of Blue
4. & 5. Mai: Sessions für Giant Steps
und:
Coltrane was, of course, a regular member of the Miles Davis group at this time. During the spring and summer of 1959, the Davis group performed at the Apollo in Harlem – sharing the bill with Monk and Ruth Brown – for a week beginning in March 13, at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, and then went back to Birdland in Manhattan. They played at the Randall’s Island festival (off of Manhattan) on August 23; at a benefit for the NAACP at Hunter College on October 4; and from October 23 to 29 at the Brooklyn Paramount theater, sharing the bill with the Count Basie band and others. But Coltrane’s band mates were going off and becoming leaders in their own right. Bill Evans had already left, and Julian „Cannonball“ Adderley hat left around the time of the Brooklyn concert.
For a long time, Coltrane had been considering starting his own band. When Davis wasn’t working, Coltrane would perform with pickup groups, mostly in New York and Philadelphia. At some point around May or June of 1959, he led a quartet at Town Hall in Manhattan, on a bill with other groups [Coltrane Reference, p. 180 gibt 28.11.1959 als Datum des Town Hall Konzertes]. Meanwhile, Davis‘ group, now billed as a quintet, played a dance concert (Tito Puente’s band was there too) at the St. Nicholas Arena in Manhattan on November 27. The played Christmas week of 1959 in Chicago. The quintet was back at the Apollo for a week beginning January 15, 1960. Finally, they performed all over Europe from March 21 through April 10.~ Lewis Porter, ibid, p. 14
Mehr mag ich zu all diesen tollen Alben nicht schreiben… selber hören, glücklich werden! :dance:
Falls mir zu Coltrane Jazz (rec. Nov. 24 und Dec. 2, 1959 – von der zweiten Session stammt übrigens „Naima“ auf Giant Steps) noch was einfällt, melde ich mich wieder 
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