Impressions (John Coltrane album)
| Impressions | ||||
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| Studio album / Live album by John Coltrane | ||||
| Released | Mid July 1963 | |||
| Recorded | November 3, 1961 Village Vanguard, New York City September 18, 1962 and April 29, 1963 Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs |
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| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 35:51 | |||
| Label | Impulse! | |||
| Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
| John Coltrane chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
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Down Beat (Original Lp release) |
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| Allmusic |
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Down Beat (Reissue) |
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| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | |
Impressions is a 1963 album of both live and studio recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane.
Tracks 1 and 3 were recorded live at the Village Vanguard in November 1961, while tracks 2 and 4 were recorded at Van Gelder Studio, respectively on September 18, 1962 and April 29, 1963. Track 5, "Dear Old Stockholm" did not appear on the original release, but appears on later reissues. The album was originally released in 1963 on the Impulse! label.
The studio tracks were performed by the classic Coltrane quartet, with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones and they are joined by Eric Dolphy and Reggie Workman on the tracks recorded live at the Village Vanguard. Dolphy contributes a long bass clarinet solo on "India", but lays out on all but the final chord of "Impressions". Workman is at hand only on "India", to join Garrison in approximating the droning sound of Indian classical music.
Throughout, Tyner's presence is unusually muted; he takes his only solo on the bonus track, "", is barely audible on the two Village Vanguard tracks, and lays out entirely on "Up 'Gainst the Wall". Also, drummer Roy Haynes—as he sometimes did for Coltrane's group during this era—replaces Elvin Jones on "After the Rain" and "Dear Old Stockholm" (which were each recorded at the same April 1963 studio session). Jones and Garrison are also uncharacteristically low-key. All told, and even more so than on his other albums, the focus on this LP is on Coltrane. The title track is notable for featuring nearly fifteen minutes of Coltrane's soloing.
The music reflects Coltrane's evolving emotional and musical range, where he explores jazz modality, the music of India, the blues, and a traditional Swedish folk song (this last track was not included on the original 1963 album, but appeared first on a 1970s previously-unissued LP compilation and is on the current—as of year 2000—CD release of Impressions as a bonus song). The eclecticism is to be expected; the album amounts ultimately to a compilation of three years of oddments.
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