This article presents the discography of the American jazz saxophonist and bandleader John Coltrane (1926–1967).
Introduction Coltrane participated in his first recording sessions while enlisted in the Navy from August 6, 1945, to August 11, 1946.John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 37. (1998, University of Michigan Press) He performed eight numbers in a pickup band that included trumpeter Dexter Culbertson.John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, pp. 43-45. (1998, University of Michigan Press) These were private recordings not made for official release. However, one track from the session, "Hot House", eventually appeared on the 1992 compilation The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology.John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, pp. 308, 340. (1998, University of Michigan Press)
There are conflicting sources as to whether he made his first professional recording session with Dinah Washington: Jazzdisco.orgJazzdisco.org lists the session as September 27, 1949 in New York City, but Lewis Porter's John Coltrane: His Life and Music states that he was on tour with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band during that time.John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 345. (1998, University of Michigan Press) Most sources confirm that he recorded with Billy Valentine on November 7 in Los Angeles for Mercury Records. In subsequent years, Coltrane sat in on recording sessions with Gillespie, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic, and Gay Crosse.
In September 1955, Coltrane joined the Miles Davis QuintetJohn Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 95. (1998, University of Michigan Press) and appeared on several Miles Davis-led recordings, including 'Round About Midnight and Milestones. He briefly joined Thelonious Monk in May 1957, and their handful of recordings together have been collected on albums such as 1961's Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. In 1958, he rejoined Davis' band and stayed until April 1960; during that time he participated in the 1959 Kind of Blue sessions.
In April 1957, he signed a contract with Prestige Records; it is unclear if this was a two-year deal or a one-year contract plus a one-year option.Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 91 (1975, Doubleday): "The designated two-year period may have also been a one-year contract plus a one-year option, too, but no one seems to know for sure."Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, Ben Ratliff, p. 34. (2007, Farrar, Straus and Giroux): "The contract, dated April 9, 1957, was for peanuts: $300 per album, and three albums a year." Many of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige could be classified as "sideman" recordings and informal jam sessions (or "blowing sessions", in the then-current terminology). He also made his first albums as a group leader, including his 1957 debut, Coltrane. That same year, Prestige allowed him to fulfill a promise that he would make an album for Blue Note,John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 127. (1998, University of Michigan Press): "Just a few months after Coltrane, the Blue Note label got special permission from Prestige to produce the second album under John's leadership." leading to 1958's Blue Train. After Coltrane gained prominence in the early 1960s, Prestige reissued a number of Coltrane's sideman and jam sessions under his name to capitalize on his success. The Prestige Recordings collects all of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige with the exception of his sideman work with Davis.
When his Prestige contract expired, Coltrane signed a two-year contract (one year, plus a one-year option) with Atlantic Records in April 1959.Chasin' The Trane, J.C. Thomas, p. 114 (1975, Doubleday)John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, p. 140. (1998, University of Michigan Press) He was the leader of all of these sessions except Bags & Trane and The Avant-Garde, where he was featured with Milt Jackson and Don Cherry respectively. Albums from this period include Giant Steps and My Favorite Things. The Heavyweight Champion box collects his recordings for Atlantic, including all known outtakes.
Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new Impulse! Records when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961.John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, pp. 190-191. (1998, University of Michigan Press) He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built".The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Ashley Kahn. (2006, W.W. Norton) Albums from this final period include the live album Live at Birdland, A Love Supreme, and Ascension.
All of the companies Coltrane worked with during his lifetime have compiled and reissued his material. In addition, Impulse! has issued several previously unreleased live recordings, including Live in Japan and The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording. Coltrane's concert, television and radio performances generated dozens of unauthorized and bootleg recordings. Pablo Records, a label that specializes in live recordings, purchased rights to several tapes of his performances,Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice, Tad Hershorn, p. 368. (2001, University of California Press) and is therefore considered a legitimate source despite never signing him to its label.
Studio albums
Prestige Records studio albums + List of albums released with John Coltrane under contractRelease dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1957Coltrane (reissued as The First Trane!) Johnnie Splawn, Sahib Shihab, Red Garland, Mal Waldron, Paul Chambers, Albert "Tootie" Heath1957-05-311958John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio (reissued as Traneing In) Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor1957-08-231958Soultrane Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor1958-02-07
+ List of albums assembled after John Coltrane's contract expiredRelease dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1959Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette (co-leader)Paul Quinichette (co-leader), Mal Waldron, Julian Euell, Ed Thigpen1957-05-171959The Cats Idrees Sulieman, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Doug Watkins, Louis Hayes1957-04-181961-01-00Lush Life Earl May, Art Taylor, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, Louis Hayes, Albert "Tootie" Heath1957-05-31, 1957-08-16, 1958-01-101961-12-00Settin' the Pace Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor1958-03-261962Standard Coltrane Wilbur Harden, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb1958-07-111963-05-00Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane (co-leader) Kenny Burrell (co-leader), Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb1958-03-071963Stardust Wilbur Harden, Freddie Hubbard, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Art Taylor1958-07-11, 1958-12-261963Dakar Cecil Payne, Pepper Adams, Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins, Art Taylor1957-04-201964-04-20The Believer Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Louis Hayes, Art Taylor, Gil Coggins, Ray Draper, Spanky DeBrest, Larry Ritchie1957-12-20, 1958-01-10, 1958-12-261964-08-00Black Pearls Donald Byrd, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor1958-05-231965-05-00Bahia Wilbur Harden, Freddie Hubbard, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb1958-07-11, 1958-12-261966The Last Trane Donald Byrd, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Earl May, Louis Hayes, Art Taylor1957-08-16, 1958-01-10, 1958-03-26
Blue Note Records studio album Release dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1958-01Blue Train Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones1957-09-15
Savoy Records studio albums Release dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1958Tanganyika Strut (co-leader) Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Curtis Fuller, Tommy Flanagan, Howard Williams, Alvin Jackson, Art Taylor1958-05-13, 1958-06-241958Jazz Way Out (co-leader) Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Curtis Fuller, Tommy Flanagan, Alvin Jackson, Art Taylor1958-06-241976Countdown (Originally released as Wilbur Harden's album Mainstream 1958 in 1958) Wilbur Harden (co-leader), Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Louis Hayes1958-03-13
Atlantic Records studio albums + List of albums released with John Coltrane under contractRelease dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1960-02-00Giant Steps Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Cedar Walton, Lex Humphries 1959-05-04, 1959-05-05, 1959-12-021961-02-00Coltrane Jazz Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones 1959-03-26, 1959-11-24, 1959-12-02, 1960-10-211961-03-00My Favorite Things McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones1960-10-21, 1960-10-24, 1960-10-261961-11-00Olé Coltrane Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Art Davis, Elvin Jones1961-05-25
+ List of albums released after John Coltrane's contract expiredRelease dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1962-07-00Coltrane Plays the Blues McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones1960-10-241964-06-00Coltrane's Sound McCoy Tyner, Steve Davis, Elvin Jones1960-10-24, 1960-10-261966The Avant-Garde (co-leader) Don Cherry (co-leader), Charlie Haden, Percy Heath, Ed Blackwell1960-06-28, 1960-07-08
Impulse! Records studio albums + List of albums assembled by John ColtraneRelease dateAlbumPersonnelRecording date1961-09-01Africa/Brass Pat Patrick, Freddie Hubbard, Booker Little, Britt Woodman, Julian Priester, Charles Greenlee, Carl Bowman, Bill Barber, Garvin Bushell, Julius Watkins, Jim Buffington, Bob Northern, Donald Corrado, Robert Swisshelm, Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Art Davis, Elvin Jones1961-05-23, 1961-06-071962-08-00Coltrane McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones1962-04-11, 1962-06-19, 1962-06-20, 1962-06-291963-02-00Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (co-leader) Duke Ellington (co-leader), Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Aaron Bell, Sam Woodyard1962-09-261963-03-00Ballads McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Reggie Workman (1961-12-21), Elvin Jones1961-12-21, 1962-09-18, 1962-11-131963-07-00Impressions McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes (1963-04-29), Eric Dolphy, Reggie Workman (1961-11-05) 1961-11-05, 1962-09-18, 1963-04-291963-07-00John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (co-leader) Johnny Hartman (co-leader), McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones1963-03-071964-01-09Live at Birdland McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones1963-10-08, 1963-11-181964-07-00Crescent McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones1964-04-27, 1964-06-011965-01-00A Love Supreme McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones1964-12-091965-08-00The John Coltrane Quartet Plays McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison (1965-05-17), Art Davis (1965-02-18), Elvin Jones1965-02-18, 1965-05-171966-02-00Ascension McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Marion Brown, Art Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, John Tchicai1965-06-281966-09-00Meditations McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Rashied Ali1965-11-231967-01-00Kulu Sé Mama McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Donald Rafael Garrett, Frank Butler, Juno Lewis1965-06-10, 1965-06-16, 1965-10-141967-09-00Expression Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali1967-02-15, 1967-03-07