SHEETS OF SOUND: A LISTENING SESSION CELEBRATING COLTRANE ’58

Article Contributed by Chummy PR | Published on Tuesday, March 26, 2019

John Coltrane Listening Party Announced in NYC (to celebrate new ‘Coltrane ‘58’ box set)

John Coltrane’s breakout year, when his mature saxophone sound first grabbed ears and his own recordings began to sell consistently, was 1958. The upcoming box set Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings (out March 29 (5-CD & digital formats) and April 26 (8-LP format) on Craft Recordings), chronicles that exciting year session by session, featuring all 37 tracks Coltrane recorded as a leader or co-leader for the independent Prestige label in those 12 months. The collection captures Coltrane in creative high gear—developing the signature improvisational style that journalist Ira Gitler famously dubbed “sheets of sound.” In addition, Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings comes on the heel of the 60th anniversary of that breakthrough year, and serves as the cornerstone release marking the 70th anniversary of Prestige Records.

On Wednesday, April 3rd at 7:00 p.m., Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City will host a free listening session with a panel of experts and enthusiasts, including Coltrane biographers Lewis Porter and Ashley Kahn. Special guests will play selections and display historical images from Coltrane ’58, engaging in a discussion filled with musical revelations and historical insights. Panelists will address the term “sheets of sound,” which refers to Coltrane’s singular approach that caused shock and awe in 1958—and eventually deep appreciation, when he pushed the bebop ideal of slaloming through a tune’s chordal pathways to its extreme. Coltrane ’58 is also more than that: it’s the sound of Coltrane working and smoothing out those sheets and decreasing the intensity, caressing and embellishing a melody, an aspect that could calm the toughest critics.

Join the panelists as they play tracks from this historical collection, take questions from the audience, and examine how 1958 helped John Coltrane become the legend we now revere and why the music he made then still influences how jazz is played today. It may be a challenge to imagine how radical Coltrane sounded 60 years ago, yet there’s an enduring relevancy in Coltrane’s bold chance-taking, as a creative artist and as an African American. “In the context of current headlines and an overriding sense of déjà vu, Coltrane’s music rings clearer than ever, with even greater meaning than it had in 1958,” writes Ashley Kahn in the liner notes to Coltrane ’58. “What he was playing then never felt less than urgent and relevant—subversive even. It still sounds that way.”

Click here to watch the unboxing video for Coltrane '58 and click here to watch box set producer Nick Phillips discussing the concept, music, and packaging.

Click here to pre-order Coltrane ’58 in 8-LP, 5-CD and digital formats.

Click here for Craft Recordings' online store, currently offering exclusive bundle packages featuring a limited edition Prestige T-shirt.

Collective Personnel:

John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Donald Byrd (trumpet), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Red Garland (piano), Wilbur Harden (trumpet, flugelhorn), Louis Hayes (drums), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Art Taylor (drums)

Track List:

8-LP SET

DISC ONE

Side A

1. Lush Life

2. Come Rain or Come Shine

Side B

1. The Believer

2. Nakatini Serenade

DISC TWO

Side A

1. Lover