Search - John Coltrane :: My Favorite Things [Deluxe Edition]

The greatest song ever recorded

Vinny Mac | CO | 04/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I agree generally that this is not Coltrane's best record (that honor would go to either "Giant Steps" or "Love Supreme". But the 13:41 song here "My Favorite Things" is the closest to a religious experience I have ever had listening to music. The first time I ever listened to it I was 12 years old and I couldn't sleep, it was around 1 in the morning and I threw on my headphones and grabbed something that looked "relaxing". I listened to the song about 3 times in a row and was astounded. Never before has an artist reached into the depths of his soul and his life in such a beautiful and perfect way. The last 4 minutes of this song feel like they are musical waves reaching through your body and elevating your spirit. Trust me folks, I never talk in such florid language but there is no other way I can describe it. Close your eyes, turn the volume all the way up"

A triumph of traditionalism

finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 12/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know what you're thinking: yet another glowing John Coltrane review from Finu Lanu. What mystical revelation will we be endowed with next? That he hates Republicans? Now, here's the interesting part about My Favorite Things: You'd expect a record like this to be a total bomb. It's packed with nothing but four long covers, with only a few original ideas, all found on the title track. But this is Coltrane at the height of his powers, and he works magic with the formula -every track's a winner. His reading of "My Favorite Things" just crushes the silly Sound of Music composition, hands-down - it's in ¾ (uncommon for jazz), and features what is simply the best soprano sax solo ever played at all. And damn, does he get intense - never before was I so fascinated with a song about snowbells and bluebells and warm woolen mittens. "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" mellows the album out considerably, earning a sensitive, heartbreaking reading from Coltrane, again on soprano. Then there's "Summertime", the highlight other than the title track. While the truth is I really dislike Porgy & Bess in general and "Summertime" specifically, it's hard for me to deny the power of Coltrane's hyperextended reading of the song. Not only is Coltrane in top form, McCoy Tyner adds interest with a clashing, almost atonal piano solo; Steve Davis contributes a lengthy but awesome bass solo; and the two communicate phenomenally, trading bars and one point while Elvin Jones plays what is more or less a solo with accompaniment, if you get what I mean. The last track, "But Not for Me", is also probably the weakest. A good song, to be sure, but nothing that hadn't been attained by the other three songs. But McCoy Tyner makes it all worthwhile, most certainly upstaging his bandleader. My Favorite Things really broke no new ground, but that's irrelevant; the strength of these reinterpretations still shines through almost fifty years later. It doesn't have the power to make your cranium combust like other Coltrane releases, but hey, even Ascension fanboys like me have to mellow out somehow."