Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
More than most tribute albums, singer Karrin Allyson's remembrance of John Coltrane makes a genuine attempt to relate to its subject--not only in retracing his 1961 offering, Ballads, song by song and luxuriating in the deep, swelling tenor sounds of Bob Berg and James Carter, but also in giving the tunes plenty of room to breathe. Resisting the temptation to dress them up with overt displays of style, she approaches them in a straightforward, emotionally understated fashion, capturing their essence with taste and intelligence. In the end, Allyson doesn't have quite enough color or depth to sustain such a long set of slow stuff (the album, also featuring Steve Wilson on soprano sax, concludes with three other ballads associated with Trane, notably his classic "Naima"). This is a singer who needs to breathe as much as sigh. But taken individually or in short doses, songs such as "Say It (Over and Over Again)" and "What's New" impart an exquisite sense of control. Allyson's radiant high notes never fail to move you. --Lloyd Sachs

Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, Music, Karrin Allyson, Jazz, Jazz Music, Pop, Vocal Jazz

Average customer rating:

Stick to the changes

Glad I started here

gets the job done, but lacks something

Karrin Allyson is the REAL DEAL

Has it all!

Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane
Karrin Allyson
Manufacturer: Concord Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

In Blue

From Paris to Rio

Footprints

I Didn't Know About You

Collage

ASIN: B00005J716
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Say It (Over And Over Again)
You Don't Know What Love Is
Too Young To Go Steady
All Or Nothing At All
I Wish I Knew
What's New
It's Easy To Remember
Nancy (With The Laughing Face)
Naima
Why Was I Born?
Everytime We Say Goodbye

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

More than most tribute albums, singer Karrin Allyson's remembrance of John Coltrane makes a genuine attempt to relate to its subject--not only in retracing his 1961 offering, Ballads, song by song and luxuriating in the deep, swelling tenor sounds of Bob Berg and James Carter, but also in giving the tunes plenty of room to breathe. Resisting the temptation to dress them up with overt displays of style, she approaches them in a straightforward, emotionally understated fashion, capturing their essence with taste and intelligence. In the end, Allyson doesn't have quite enough color or depth to sustain such a long set of slow stuff (the album, also featuring Steve Wilson on soprano sax, concludes with three other ballads associated with Trane, notably his classic "Naima"). This is a singer who needs to breathe as much as sigh. But taken individually or in short doses, songs such as "Say It (Over and Over Again)" and "What's New" impart an exquisite sense of control. Allyson's radiant high notes never fail to move you. --Lloyd Sachs

Customer Reviews:

Stick to the changes.......2007-03-01

I am a big fan of the Coltrane album and if you area going to pay tribute, you'd better have a good take on things. McCoy Tyner stayed somewhat close to the actual chords. Just listening to a few of the preview cuts, I was turned off by the piano player's avant gard approach. It didn't maatter how Karrin interpreted the songs, they were already ruined by all those seconds/ninths/13ths etc. in the background.

Glad I started here.......2006-08-17

This was the first Karrin Allyson album I heard. I liked this album -- her singing as well as the ensemble work -- enough to seek out more. If I had started with some of her other albums, though, I probably never would have checked this one out, and that would have been unfortunate. She sounds less forced, less self-conscious, on this album than on, say, Footprints or In Blue. She wears these songs more gracefully than on the other albums. The musicianship here is also more organic than on, particularly, Footprints, which has got to be (I hope) a low point in her catalog. Lewis Nash is one of my favorite contemporary drummers, and he turns in a typically agile yet supportive performance. The sax blowing is the hottest you'll find on any of Allyson's albums. I don't mean to damn Allyson with faint praise, but I'm glad this was the first of her albums I heard, because this is a good one.

gets the job done, but lacks something.......2006-06-03

I used to be a big fan of Karrin Allyson until I saw her live at the Blue Note (playing a double bill with Ron Carter). She is one of the most irritating performers I have ever had the unfortunate opportunity to witness. Her music is forced and showy (that really comes across onstage) and after going home and trying to listen to her albums, I've realized that her recordings are no different than her live performances. When I listen to this album, I get an uncanny feeling like she is trying to get through these songs as fast as possible so she can move on to recording another album.
Maybe I'm biased but if you want good, contemporary, vocal jazz, pick up a Tierney Sutton or Kurt Elling album.

Karrin Allyson is the REAL DEAL.......2005-01-15

Forget Jane Monheit and the other beautiful, but bland female jazz singers who are easy on the ears but offer nothing to grab hold of. Karrin Allyson is the real deal: a soulful, swinging, in-your-face jazz singer with a real understanding of the jazz idiom and the chops to hold her own with the talented instrumentalists who back her up. It's all there. The phrasing, the delivery, and a soulful rasp which grabs you by the heart and pulls you deep into the music.

She can be mellow. She can be hot. She can be smooth. And she can be raw. On this CD tribute to John Coltrane she does him proud. If you don't love this CD, then you don't love jazz. No offense to all the "pretty" singers out there, but maybe they should listen to Karrin and see how it's really done.

Has it all!.......2004-05-02

This CD has it all! Very stylish smooth vocals and fantastic musicians. It has silky smooth ballads and songs where the band really swings. The homage to Coltrane is genuine and gives the CD purpose and meaning. This is a really great jazz CD and I really enjoyed it!

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