Impressions (John Coltrane album)

Tracks 1 and 3 were recorded live at the Village Vanguard in November 1961, during the same residency that produced the seminal "Live" at the Village Vanguard album, 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," also recorded on April 29, 1963, did not appear on the original release, but appears on later reissues. The studio tracks were performed by the classic Coltrane quartet (pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones), who are joined by saxophonist Eric Dolphy and bassist 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 plays only on "India", joining Garrison in approximating the droning sound of Indian classical music. Drummer Roy Haynes replaces Elvin Jones on "After the Rain" and "Dear Old Stockholm". 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. ==Reception==

DownBeat magazine critic Harvey Pekar summed up the album in his five-star review of August 29, 1963 writing: "Not all the music on this album is excellent (which is what a five-star rating signifies,) but some is more than excellent." ==Influence on popular music==

According to Roger McGuinn, while touring in late 1965, the rock band the Byrds had only a single tape recording to listen to on the tour bus, with Ravi Shankar on one side and Coltrane's Impressions and Africa/Brass on the other: "We played that damn thing 50 or 100 times, through a Fender amplifier that was plugged into an alternator in the car." The result was the recording of the single "Eight Miles High", acknowledged by the band as a direct homage to Coltrane, and to "India" on Impressions in particular. In 2000 it was voted number 687 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. ==Track listing==

All tracks composed by John Coltrane except where noted. == Personnel ==

Musicians • John Coltrane – soprano and tenor saxophone • Jimmy Garrison – double bass • McCoy Tyner – piano (tracks 1, 3–5) • Elvin Jones – drums (tracks 1–3) • Eric Dolphy – bass clarinet (track 1), alto sax (track 3, final chord only) • Reggie Workman – double bass (track 1) • Roy Haynes – drums (tracks 4–5) Production • Bob Thiele – producer • Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer • Kevin Reeves – reissue mastering ==References==