crescent: in a few words

For John Coltrane, 1964 wasn't exactly a prolific year by any means. He & the quartet recorded only two albums that whole year, one of them being of course the masterpiece A Love Supreme. The other effort, Crescent, might have been overlooked, overshadowed by its little brother; it didn't receive the same amount of accolades as A Love Supreme. But still, Crescent is an equally impressive classic in its own right, revealing an understated beauty & glory which Coltrane had a penchant for creating.

The title track is one of the finest compositions Trane ever committed to tape, a harbinger of things to come with his late-period efforts; by the same token, this is a vehicle for Trane to improvise his heart out. (He would stretch this composition out beyond the unknown on the 4-CD set Live In Japan.) "Wise One" continues the streak of consistency, revealing the man at his finest: playing with full-on emotion, still longing, still seeking, still hoping for eventual reconciliation. "Bessie's Blues" is self-explanatory: over three minutes of straight-up, no-nonsense playing & McCoy Tyner playing a solo which is economical as much as it is sparkling. "Lonnie's Lament" is a showcase for another brilliant piano solo by Tyner & an unaccompanied bass solo by Jimmy Garrison. Then we've got the final composition which needs no further explanation, "The Drum Thing." This is Elvin Jones' time to shine & lay down an explosive exposition on his drumkit; this solo reveals why Jones was one of the best in jazz drumming as well as one of the most intense in his field.

With Crescent, we can see the seeds that would be sown for A Love Supreme: Trane was not only opening his heart to us spiritually but also lyrically. And as the previous paragraph amply illustrates, the contributions of his bandmates cannot be overlooked or underestimated; this is what made the Classic John Coltrane Quartet such a tight unit for a few years running.
A Love Supreme might have gotten all the glory but Crescent has its rightful place of honor in the Coltrane discography: With this effort, the man would lay the groundwork for his late period music in a more, readily accessible form.