In The Winners Circle

Description :
Musicians : John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Donald Byrd, Art Farmer (trumpet), Frank Rehak (trombone), Gene Quill (alto saxophone), Al Cohn (baritone saxophone), Rolf Kuhn (clarinet), Eddie Costa (piano, vibes), Freddie Green, ... [Show more]

Description:
Musicians :
John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Donald Byrd, Art Farmer (trumpet), Frank Rehak (trombone), Gene Quill (alto saxophone), Al Cohn (baritone saxophone), Rolf Kuhn (clarinet), Eddie Costa (piano, vibes), Freddie Green, Kenny Burrell (guitar), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Philly Joe Jones, Ed Thingpen (drums).

Rare stuff from John Coltrane! The album features Trane playing tenor on only 4 of the album's 8 tracks making it kind of surprising that they used his name in the title but the album is a lesser-known batch of large group recordings that offer an interesting early chapter in his career ! The main force behind the album is arranger Harry Tubbs possibly not a name that's as sexy as John Coltrane, hence the billing but a worthy leader for the date, given the quality of the music.

Many of the other players here are small combo heroes who can also shine brightly in bigger groups such as Donald Byrd and Art Farmer on trumpets, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Al Cohn on baritone sax, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, and Oscar Pettiford on bass plus Rolf Kuhn, making an early American appearance on clarinet. Coltrane gets in some nice, but short moments on the date but the bigger charm is the full ensemble work on titles that include "She Didn't Say Yes", "Turtle Walk", "At Home With The Blues", "Seabreeze", and "Love & The Weather".
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