Much like Settin the Pace, this is a case of the label lumping old Coltrane recordings together and selling the result as an album to benefit from his rising fame at the time. So not really a canon Coltrane record I suppose. Stereo mix is a bit off but the not the worst. Side A is far weaker, and although 1 starts off with a not too memorable but quite nice sort of city cafe atmosphere, the ensuing tracks are of decreasing quality and all too samey. You only notice the track changes because of dips in quality actually, because otherwise the tracks just sound like musicians endlessly jamming for the sake of jamming to try to find ideas but not quite getting there. Overall 3.0 tier pretty much. Thankfully, Side B is much stronger (upper 3.5 tier), with all tracks displaying more ideas and distinctiveness. 4 is sweet and playful, the sax knowing to stay quiet to let the piano shine as well as the bass in a nice outro, 5 is slower and more of a smoother vibe, while 6 is similar to 4, perhaps less good but resolutely superior to anything on side A still. Just jam side B really. Overall 3.4
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