The Quartet’s Personnel
John Coltrane, tenor, soprano sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Elvin Jones, drums
Dave recalls...
This quartet performed contemporary jazz as great as it ever was played in the 1960s. Every imaginable audible quality permeated the music: power, intellect, raw emotion, passion, sensitivity and more…. At this point in his development, Trane’s playing was still very comprehensible. Composition structures were recognizable, improvisations by each group member adhered to harmonic and rhythmic guidelines with the expected clarity, and even more exploratory passages could be absorbed without a revolt of one’s inner musical resources.
McCoy Tyner felt comfortable playing longer piano choruses and laid out much less behind lengthy tenor or soprano sax solos, to the great delight of listeners who wanted to enjoy the pianist’s constant involvement.
Point of interest: Reggie Workman exhibited great rhythm section strength and, to a satisfying degree, neutralized Elvin Jones’ powerful waves of percussive creativity. As a result, the rhythm section had much better balance than would be the case in future years.