John Coltrane is one of the big Jazz greats of musical history. Aside from his extraordinary A Love Supreme album released in 1965, he made a successful solo career in the Jazz scene with himself and his saxophone playing. He also did collaborations with other artists regularly throughout his own career. This is one of those collaborations, and the interesting thing about this is that John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman barely knew each other prior to these sessions being recorded. Johnny Hartman was a Jazz vocalist that John Coltrane was merely acquaintances with at the time, but both men must have recognised the genius in each other and decided to record this album as a result. Let’s take a listen to this album and hear what it sounds like.

They Say It’s Wonderful launches into it, with some very pretty piano in the right channel, some double bass in the left channel and some gorgeous vocals from Johnny Hartman. It is a gorgeous tune, all right. John Coltrane enters with his saxophone here as well, and this tune comes alive. It’s about the feelings of romantic love, and this sounds really beautiful throughout. Like painting a great picture, the artistry of this tune is amazing. Johnny Hartman sings in a euphoric and fantastic way. Instantly, this is a classic tune that sounds really sweet and amazing. A great saxophone solo from John Coltrane is present near the middle here, and this tune is a tasteful, intelligent and fantastic listening experience. A great piece of music, this is worth every single moment to listen to. An awesome and inspiring tune to hear. The saxophone soloing in particular makes this tune come alive in the second half, with nimble drums and percussion and singing re-emerging by Johnny Hartman, who sings in a pseudo-Crooner way. A very genuinely good listen, and something to play when getting intimate with a lover. A great song, and something worth your ears. Pretty, excellent and unique, it ends in a soft and gentle way. Brilliant.

Dedicated To You begins with smokey, Jazzy piano in the right channel, followed quickly by vocals via Johnny Hartman. He gets singing away very nicely, and this is a super sweet tune that sounds really pretty, excellent and nicely played. Soon enough, John Coltrane gets playing his saxophone here and he sounds absolutely brilliant as well, as per usual. This is a near perfect listening experience for this album, and the album already is an absolute classic by this point. One of the best ways you can spend 30 minutes or so listening to music, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman and the group pull their weight musically here. All the same, this is descriptively beautiful and musically magical to hear. A really lovely tune, and something that people should pay more attention to. The whole tune is beautiful, sensual and soulful. Johnny Hartman sings in an appropriate way, in a pseudo-Frank Sinatra vocal that fits this music perfectly. A great song to hear, the lyrics present are really amazing, too. A very nice song overall, worth it even if you are only a casual fan of Jazz music. Splendid and enjoyable, the piano throughout is excellent.

My One And Only Love begins with piano and saxophone which sounds classy, intelligent and brilliant. This continues on for some time, taking the listener to a higher dimension and the music overall is really fantastic. The double bass playing in this instrumental section is also really great. A really pretty, interesting and amazing listening experience, this is definitely worth your time and listening ability. The fact is that this is great Jazz music that is very inspirational. Eventually, Johnny Hartman gets singing away in a deep, buttery and romantic way for the listener to enjoy. A great and fantastic listening experience, this is exactly the sort of music one needs to hear when courting a lover. A pleasant and enjoyable piece of music that should be heard by many out there, this is fantastic music to listen to when in a loving mood. The piano and vocals at the end are sensationally great, and it concludes with those, along with some hi-hats. Outstanding.

Lush Life begins with some quirky piano, and Johnny Hartman sings nicely here, launching right into it. A very good and interesting listening experience, these songs are very good quality Jazz music and indeed, are timeless. Johnny Hartman sings very wonderfully and beautifully on this song, and this tune is something very inspirational indeed. Soon enough, some gentle percussion enters and Johnny Hartman continues to sing nicely about losing the lust for life. Still, this is an adventurous and wonderful tune to listen to. The vocal delivery present is absolutely fantastic to hear, and this music is really top-notch. A slow and sensual listen, this eventually launches into an intricate saxophone and drum solo that works absolutely brilliantly together, held together by the double bass playing. This does sound really wonderful, energetic and fresh musically, to this very day. A timeless Jazz classic, and a truly excellent song, this is something that many people can sit down and hear with a glass of wine and some cigars. It ends very gently, a nice tune.

You Are Too Beautiful begins with double bass, lush piano and some interesting melodies. Johnny Hartman sings nicely here, and this tune comes alive. A really lovely and pleasant tune that demands listening, this is intricate Vocal Jazz that sounds top-notch. A really pretty and wonderful listen, this is music from the era of tape based recordings without digital editing throughout, which says a lot about the consistency of this music. These recordings are likely first take sort of performances, and we enjoy every moment of that here. Towards the middle, there is a dramatic musical change, and the piano comes front and centre in this tune. A really awesome, fine and dramatically upbeat sounding song, this has some of the best live Jazz playing that you will ever hear. Really classy and excellent music is present on this album. This is one of the best and most underrated Jazz albums of all time, it simply does great justice to the genre. Towards the end, Johnny Hartman sounds very Crooner-ish in his singing, and he sings about love and affairs of the heart. A really great tune, the ending is sublime. It ends with a soft, slow piano and some hi-hats. Neat.

Autumn Serenade is the final track on this album and begins with an odd descending melody on piano and double bass. Johnny Hartman sings well here, and this tune comes alive here. This is extremely good music, and it obviously is a really top tune to hear. The combination of Crooner styled vocals and Jazz instrumentation, along with John Coltrane’s saxophone, is absolutely marvellous to hear. This is an extremely sensual piece of music to listen to, and it sounds incredibly great to this day. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman have nailed the music at hand here, and this is both exciting and exhilarating. A wonderful and descriptively intelligent listening experience, the saxophone playing, in particular, is really amazing. Towards the end, Johnny Hartman resumes singing in a passionate and euphoric way. A great and gorgeous listening experience from start to finish, this concludes with a nice fade out. Excellent.

This is an outstanding album that has some of the best Jazz music in a song based context that you will ever hear. This is also mostly first take recordings as well, allegedly. It shows what a combination of professional musicians who see the different genius in each and what they do together counts for the greater good of the album. Should you listen to this album? Absolutely, especially if you dig Jazz music or some of the Crooner styled stuff in the music scene out there.

Legendary.

9/10