One aspect that is quite admirable about jazz is that it is a form of music that does not tell the listener what to feel or think, but paints a picture of what the musicians were thinking and allows the listener to hear whatever it is they want to inside of that picture.
John Coltrane released “Blue Train” on Blue Note Records in 1957. It is an up-tempo hard-bop jazz album and showcases four original songs written by Coltrane along with one soft ballad that he did not compose.
Playing on “Blue Train” is Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums.
The album cover displays Coltrane gripping a syringe between his index and middle finger while the index finger rests upon his lower lip. The mouth piece of his tenor sax can be seen on his left side while his left arm rests behind his head. A smug, thought-wielding look appears on Coltrane’s face as the whole cover is masked behind a blue faáade.
The title track opens the album with suspenseful building blocks of trumpet and piano. Coltrane then enters and synchronizes with Morgan on trumpet to create the sound of “Ba-da-di-da-da” then Drew comes in with “Baum Baum.” It sounds like you are about to find out who is the genius behind some well-orchestrated crime on an old detective movie.
That, or maybe Coltrane was signaling some sort of warning call to the listener stating, “I hope you know what your getting into.” Whatever it may be, it has a suspenseful and ominous feel to it. This continues on a few more times before “Philly” Jones kicks in with the drums and everyone else joins in for the theme as Coltrane begins his extensive solo. The song moves into a faster direction from here. In the background, throughout the song at random points, you can hear Morgan blowing softly on the trumpet re-creating the sound of a train whistle. Each musician solos except for Jones.
Another interesting part of this song is how the musicians will speed up the tempo for a little bit, and then once you hear Jones snap down on his kit, they break it down into a slower sound.
“Moment’s Notice” is the second track on this album and the last one on side A. It begins with Coltrane playing the melody then a slight solo by Drew before Coltrane is sent on his solo. There is a “Boom-Boom—Boom-Boom” played by Drew twice before a smooth transition to Fuller’s trombone solo. The track name begins to make sense as each member transitions into their solo within a “moment’s notice.” There is one small break during Fullers trombone solo that is literally about a half second but feels like a minute as the fast paced music is suddenly halted then restarted. Morgan Chambers and Drew solo next in that order. Chambers manages to solo with a bow and it creates the sound of the high seas. Once again, Jones is the only musician that does not solo on this song. It leaves the listener a little disappointed because it would have fit perfectly in the fast paced nature of the song. A little bang-bang would not have hurt.
As the side is flipped over, the first track is “Locomotion” and that once disappointed listener that was left without a drum solo on “Moment’s Notice” should be happy with the opening of “Locomotion” as it opens with a slight solo by Jones. Locomotion could be described as the second part of “Moment’s Notice,” but with a shot of more energy. The transitions between solos are a lot quicker as well as the tempo of the song. Fuller has the best solo in my opinion on this song. For a trombone player he is moving quickly. He then will subtly slow it down and speed it back up. Morgan and Drew solo next and then Jones is allowed a longer solo to a backdrop of nobody else.
The only song that was not composed by John Coltrane on this album is “I’m Old Fashioned.” This is a lovely jazz ballad. The song is slower paced and ironically sticks out quite loudly compared to all of the other ones. This song can either be really depressing, relaxing, or romantic but beauty being the common denominator in all three. It is very soft and each soloist taps into some kind of emotion that may be floating around in your body or mind. The piano solo by Drew is the best one in my opinion because the keys sound so righteous on these ballad type jazz songs. “I’m Old Fashioned,” what a fitting title for a love song too.
The last song on the album is “Lazy-Bird.” This is still somewhat of a faster song, but it is mellower than the other Coltrane originals. The concept of the title comes into play once each member embarks on their solos. The solos start off somewhat slow, and then gradually get faster as they progress. Kind of like the musicians started off lazy, and then woke up and really started playing. There are a bunch of crisp drum rolls that can be heard throughout this song at different points. This is a pretty playful little song. Playful as in let’s go jump and roll around together. Chambers has a pretty ridged solo as he busts out the bow once more. Philly Jones comes in and just knocks your brain around for a minute, then Coltrane comes in and signals what appears to be the ending of the song. In unison the horns play “Whhaaa Whaa, Whaaaah Whaaa Wha” and then everyone together play in unison and exit the album; ending with another slight drum roll by Jones.