My Favorite Things

iTunes Review

John Coltrane’s discography includes a number of landmark recordings including this 1960 classic. The standout here is the title cut, a radical version of a Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II song from their Broadway musical, The Sound of Music. Drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Steve Davis contribute mightily here and throughout the album. The quartet’s — and especially Coltrane’s — sound hints at the spiritually-infused music the great saxophonist would later play and which would reach its apogee on 1964’s A Love Supreme. Trane was at a turning point in his creative development on Things. He was exploring various modes and a broadened timbral palette, but he could still bring great sensitivity to a standard like Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye.” And Coltrane knew when to tweak a standard as well: the group’s fresh take on the old warhorse, “Summertime,” makes the listener rethink the tune too.