Search - Wilbur Harden :: Tanganyika Strut

"Tanganyika Strut" is Coltrane at his most listenable.

03/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When listening to the many albums of John Coltrane it is easy to be unimpressed by his earlier works or else to find his later works too avant-garde and difficult to listen to. "Tanganyika Strut" is neither of these. This album seems to have captured him in his transitional phase (1958-1959) where he expresses a great amount of feel in his playing mixed with impressively fast and complicated solos which make his music easier to listen to. This is particularly true with the first two tracks on the album. To those who really get deep into their music you will find yourselves playing this album over and over again admiring the feel and technique than Coltrane possessed. For me, "Tanganyika Strut" along with "A Kind of Blue" (Coltrane and Miles Davis) and "My Favourite Things" represent the best of Coltrane. Remember that Coltrane's music is extremely deep and often difficult to get into. Personally, I place this album in my group of classics along with "Concierto" by Jim Hall, "The Last Concert" by The Modern Jazz Quartet", "A Kind of Blue" Coltrane & Davis, and "Live" by Jim Hall."