John Coltrane – In The Winner’s Circle

Description

Rare stuff from John Coltrane! The album features Trane playing tenor on only 4 of the albums 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 thats 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 Didnt Say Yes, Turtle Walk, At Home With The Blues, Seabreeze, and Love & The Weather.

Tracklist

Lazy Afternoon
Not So Sleepy
Sea Breeze
Love And The Weather
She Didn’t Say Yes
If I’m Lucky
At Home With The Blues
Turtle Walk