The John Coltrane Quartet Plays

The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (full title The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Chim Chim Cheree, Song of Praise, Nature Boy, Brazilia) is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, recorded in February and May of 1965, shortly after the release of A Love Supreme. The tracks recorded in February feature two bass players (Jimmy Garrison and Art Davis), and are a continuation of experiments begun by Coltrane in 1961 involving multiple basses, often with one playing arco and the other playing pizzicato.[5]

The John Coltrane Quartet Plays
Studio album by John Coltrane
Released	August 1965[1]
Recorded	February 17–18 and May 17, 1965
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Avant-garde jazz, post-bop
Length	37:52 original LP 59:23 CD reissue
Label	Impulse! A-85
Producer	Bob Thiele
John Coltrane chronology
A Love Supreme (1965) The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (1965) Ascension (1965)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[4]

Reception

Allmusic reviewer Scott Yanow called the album "a perfect introduction for listeners to Coltrane's last period."[6] All About Jazz reviewer Robert Spencer noted that "all through this recording the intensity has been turned up a notch since A Love Supreme, the immediately preceding quartet recording... The music is often arresting and moving, but it certainly does seem as if the calm attainment of A Love Supreme has somehow been broken." He called the album "great music from a great musician" and "an invaluable record of a man struggling to attain to greater clarity of vision."[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by John Coltrane except where noted. A brief passage of applause has been crudely spliced onto the end of "Nature Boy (Live)".[8]

No.	Title	Recording date	Length
1.	"Chim Chim Cheree" (Sherman Brothers)	May 17, 1965	6:58
2.	"Brazilia"	May 17, 1965	12:56
3.	"Nature Boy" (George Alexander Aberle)	February 18, 1965	8:03
4.	"Song of Praise"	May 17, 1965	9:56

Bonus tracks on CD reissues

No.	Title	Recording date	Length
5.	"Feeling Good" (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley)	February 18, 1965	6:25
6.	"Nature Boy (First Version)"	February 17, 1965	7:06
7.	"Nature Boy (Live at the Village Gate)"	March 28, 1965	8:00

Personnel

• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone
• McCoy Tyner – piano
• Jimmy Garrison – double bass
• Art Davis – double bass (3, 5, and 6 with Garrison)
• Elvin Jones – drums

References

1. Billboard, August 28, 1965.
2. The John Coltrane Quartet Plays at AllMusic
3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 47. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
5. Porter, Lewis (1999). John Coltrane: His Life and Music. University of Michigan Press. pp. 198–199.
6. Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Yanow, Scott, eds. (1996). All Music Guide to Jazz (2nd ed.). Miller Freeman. p. 166.
7. Spencer, Robert (July 1, 1997). "John Coltrane: The John Coltrane Quartet Plays". All About Jazz. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
8. Porter et al: The John Coltrane Reference, p. 719.