Search - John Coltrane :: Bahia

Wonderful, Exquisite, Exotic

Carlos from Rio | Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil | 11/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's Coltrane phrasing. It's Coltrane easier.

Not the conceptual hardbop Coltrane but the great soloist in two wonderful standard slow ballads "My Ideal" and "Something I Dreamed Last Night".

The opening is an exotic uptempo version of Brazilian traditional Samba classic "Bahia" by the late composer Ary Barroso, the same composer of "Brazil" ("Aquarela do Brasil").

A different and necessary Coltrane!"

Nothing special here.

Matthew C | Anchorage, AK | 01/16/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is early Trane, and is really only for collectors. Trane does an adequate job here but doesnt show any of the fire or flair that makes him stand out so later.



There are a few nice ballads here, but you're better off picking up Lush Life or Soultrane if you want that type of music from this era of Trane."

BAHIA: good...not great...but good! 3.5 stars

J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 08/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"overall, Bahia is a great album. the performances are well-measured and the playing is full of creative ideas; but in comparison to all the other Coltrane albums (on the Prestige label and othewrwise) i feel like Bahia may be overlooked in the scope of things. the title track and Goldboro Express start off the album with an enormous amount of fire and class. Goldboro Express in particular, being one of the highlights of Coltrane's entire Prestige recorded output. but the rest of the album falls squarely into the "sounds good...but not great" category. the ballads are simply beautiful...but only so. one can't help but feel that there wasn't quite enough room explored within these melodic phrasings. Coltrane's playing is (as usual) faultless...but the song's range seems limited....most likely due to record company issues and studio time being limited. Bahia is not a bad purchase....but it's not an immediate "must buy" situation. for the average Coltrane fan who is curious aboiut the Prestige catalogue, i would suggest Black Pearls and Soul Trane is the two to get first...then check out Dakar...from then...well...it's an open game. but Bahia is on the list somewhere."