One of the finest romantic collaborations in music - Are you a romantic at heart? A wanna-be romantic? Either way you cannot go wrong with this masterful collaboration. Even hard-core left-brained music critics will be hard pressed to find fault with this album. If Coltrane and Hartman are masters of their art individually, then they really shine together. Coltrane is very laid back and relaxed and the solo tracks are so soothing you will think you are ascending to heaven. Hartman s vocals are also outstanding. In case you have never heard Johnny Hartman before (and many people haven t), you will be amazed at the clarity and resonance of his voice. And he sings with the most amazing depth of emotion, something I have not experienced since the first time I heard In the Wee Small Hours album by Frank Sinatra. An automatic buy for most anyone. This album is a major jazz event and I sincerely doubt it will ever be topped!
Romantic and artful to the extreme. Nothing else like it. - Both these artists have done excellent work elsewhere and both have had great respect for each other. This is their only collaboration, and it is a high point for both of them. Coltraine is relaxed, mellow and intellegently restrained in his phrasing. Where he is not restrained is in the depth of the emotion he puts into his playing. Nowhere is he more romantic and soulful than here. The same can be said for Hartman. His phraing is so subtle and his tone is so smooth that it is impossible not to fall in love with his sound. Mccoy Tyner backs them up on the piano with an equal amount of skill and intellegence. It is seldom that artists of this stature meet, and it is even more seldom that they work together so well. This is not a Coltraine CD or a Hartman CD or a Tyner CD. It is just a great CD, one that has no peer.