Black Pearls

1964 studio album by John Coltrane
Black Pearls
Studio album by
John Coltrane
ReleasedAugust 1964
RecordedMay 23, 1958
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Hackensack
GenreJazz
Length38:53
LabelPrestige
PRLP 7316
ProducerBob Weinstock
John Coltrane chronology
Crescent
(1964)
Black Pearls
(1964)
A Love Supreme
(1965)

Black Pearls is a studio album by American jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1964 on Prestige Records. It was recorded at a single recording session on May 23, 1958, at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey.[1][2][3]

On that Friday session, "the songs weren't long enough for a whole album", recalled producer Bob Weinstock in 2001, "so I said 'Let's do a slow blues to finish it out'." Coltrane invited Weinstock to write the song on the spot, but he didn't know music, so Coltrane replied "'Just tell me what you want me to play. Should it go like this?' and he would play some notes. After having played a rough melody, he'd say 'Okay, you wrote it.' That was the genesis of 'Sweet Sapphire Blues'".[4]

The title track is a sustained exhibition of Coltrane's sheets of sound technique during his solo.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
DownBeat[6]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[8]

In a review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer stated that the album "captures Coltrane at the height of perfecting the intense volley that would garner the name 'sheets of sound'," but noted that it "seems a bit ambiguous when placed in a more historical context."[5]

DownBeat's Don Nelson wrote: "Despite a commanding technique, [Coltrane] is still not in control." However, his "involvement with his music and instrument is total."[6]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated that, along with Om, the album is "the drabbest session in the whole Coltrane canon."[7]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Black Pearls" (Coltrane) – 13:13
  2. "Lover, Come Back to Me" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg) 7:27

Side two

  1. "Sweet Sapphire Blues" (Bob Weinstock) – 18:13

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "John Coltrane - Black Pearls". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "John Coltrane Discography". JazzDisco.org. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  3. ^ Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 522.
  4. ^ 2008 liner notes
  5. ^ a b Black Pearls at AllMusic
  6. ^ a b Nelson, Don. "John Coltrane: Black Pearls". DownBeat. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  8. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
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