When little in the world seems to make much sense anymore, when all the noise, turmoil and strife is getting to be too much, there can be no better medicine than beautiful music to soothe the troubled mind.
The pairing of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and baritone singer Johnny Hartman might have seemed like a left-field choice in 1963 but Impulse! knew exactly what it was doing, The company smelled a hit, and so too in all probability did Coltrane.
Backed by Coltrane’s classic quartet of McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and drummer Elvin Jones on sotto voce brushes, this album is a natural companion to Coltrane’s Ballads album, also released on Impulse! earlier the same year.
Why so little critical attention has been paid to John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, a gorgeous collection of ballads by any yardstick, is food for thought. Perhaps it simply does not chime with the prevailing image of Coltrane the fearless, uncompromising improvisor, Coltrane the spiritual seeker.
Academic researcher (and Coltrane fan) Tony Whyton has some fascinating ideas on Coltrane and the way in which he has been marketed, mediated and received.
His books Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and Beyond A Love Supreme: John Coltrane And The Legacy Of An Album (Oxford University press, 2013) provide refreshingly original insights into one of jazz’ most celebrated and deified figures.
