Coltrane participated in his first recording sessions while enlisted in the Navy from August 6, 1945, to August 11, 1946.[1] He performed eight numbers in a pickup band that included trumpeter Dexter Culbertson.[2] These were private recordings not made for official release. However, one track from the session, "
Hot House", eventually appeared on the 1992 compilation The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology.[3]
There are conflicting sources as to whether he made his first professional recording session with
Dinah Washington: Jazzdisco.org[4] lists the session as September 27, 1949 in New York City, but Lewis Porter's John Coltrane: His Life and Music states that he was on tour with the
Dizzy Gillespie Big Band during that time.[5] Most sources confirm that he recorded with Billy Valentine on November 7 in Los Angeles for
Mercury Records. In subsequent years, Coltrane sat in on recording sessions with Gillespie,
Johnny Hodges,
Earl Bostic, and Gay Crosse.
In April 1957, he signed a contract with
Prestige Records; it is unclear if this was a two-year deal or a one-year contract plus a one-year option.[7][8] Many of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige could be classified as "sideman" recordings and informal
jam sessions (or "blowing sessions", in the then-current terminology). He also made his first albums as a group leader, including his 1957 debut, Coltrane. That same year, Prestige allowed him to fulfill a promise that he would make an album for
Blue Note,[9] leading to 1957's Blue Train. After Coltrane gained prominence in the early 1960s, Prestige reissued a number of Coltrane's sideman and jam sessions under his name to capitalize on his success. The Prestige Recordings collects all of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige with the exception of his sideman work with Davis.
Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new
Impulse! Records when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961.[12] He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built".[13] Albums from this final period include the live album Live at Birdland, A Love Supreme, and Ascension.
All of the companies Coltrane worked with during his lifetime have compiled and reissued his material. In addition, Impulse! has issued several previously unreleased live recordings, including Live in Japan and The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording. Coltrane's concert, television and radio performances generated dozens of unauthorized and
bootleg recordings.
Pablo Records, a label that specializes in live recordings,[14] purchased rights to several tapes of his performances,[15] and is therefore considered a legitimate source despite never signing him to its label.
Studio albums
Prestige Records studio albums
List of albums released with John Coltrane under contract
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 345. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 95. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 91 (1975, Doubleday): "The designated two-year period may have also been a one-year contract plus a one-year option, too, but no one seems to know for sure."
^Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, Ben Ratliff, p. 34. (2007, Farrar, Straus and Giroux): "The contract, dated April 9, 1957, was for peanuts: $300 per album, and three albums a year."
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 127. (1998, University of Michigan Press): "Just a few months after Coltrane, the Blue Note label got special permission from Prestige to produce the second album under John's leadership."
^Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 114 (1975, Doubleday)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 140. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, pp. 190-191. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Ashley Kahn. (2006, W.W. Norton)
Coltrane participated in his first recording sessions while enlisted in the Navy from August 6, 1945, to August 11, 1946.[1] He performed eight numbers in a pickup band that included trumpeter Dexter Culbertson.[2] These were private recordings not made for official release. However, one track from the session, "
Hot House", eventually appeared on the 1992 compilation The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology.[3]
There are conflicting sources as to whether he made his first professional recording session with
Dinah Washington: Jazzdisco.org[4] lists the session as September 27, 1949 in New York City, but Lewis Porter's John Coltrane: His Life and Music states that he was on tour with the
Dizzy Gillespie Big Band during that time.[5] Most sources confirm that he recorded with Billy Valentine on November 7 in Los Angeles for
Mercury Records. In subsequent years, Coltrane sat in on recording sessions with Gillespie,
Johnny Hodges,
Earl Bostic, and Gay Crosse.
In April 1957, he signed a contract with
Prestige Records; it is unclear if this was a two-year deal or a one-year contract plus a one-year option.[7][8] Many of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige could be classified as "sideman" recordings and informal
jam sessions (or "blowing sessions", in the then-current terminology). He also made his first albums as a group leader, including his 1957 debut, Coltrane. That same year, Prestige allowed him to fulfill a promise that he would make an album for
Blue Note,[9] leading to 1957's Blue Train. After Coltrane gained prominence in the early 1960s, Prestige reissued a number of Coltrane's sideman and jam sessions under his name to capitalize on his success. The Prestige Recordings collects all of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige with the exception of his sideman work with Davis.
Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new
Impulse! Records when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961.[12] He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built".[13] Albums from this final period include the live album Live at Birdland, A Love Supreme, and Ascension.
All of the companies Coltrane worked with during his lifetime have compiled and reissued his material. In addition, Impulse! has issued several previously unreleased live recordings, including Live in Japan and The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording. Coltrane's concert, television and radio performances generated dozens of unauthorized and
bootleg recordings.
Pablo Records, a label that specializes in live recordings,[14] purchased rights to several tapes of his performances,[15] and is therefore considered a legitimate source despite never signing him to its label.
Studio albums
Prestige Records studio albums
List of albums released with John Coltrane under contract
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 345. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 95. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 91 (1975, Doubleday): "The designated two-year period may have also been a one-year contract plus a one-year option, too, but no one seems to know for sure."
^Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, Ben Ratliff, p. 34. (2007, Farrar, Straus and Giroux): "The contract, dated April 9, 1957, was for peanuts: $300 per album, and three albums a year."
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 127. (1998, University of Michigan Press): "Just a few months after Coltrane, the Blue Note label got special permission from Prestige to produce the second album under John's leadership."
^Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 114 (1975, Doubleday)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 140. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, pp. 190-191. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
^The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Ashley Kahn. (2006, W.W. Norton)