John Coltrane - Believer

EU-only 180gm vinyl LP pressing including two bonus tracks, deluxe inner sleeve and digital download. John Coltrane was one of the most revolutionary musicians in jazz history. In much the same way that Charlie Parker became a dominant influence during the bebop era, there was a time during the 1960's when nearly every tenor sax player tried to imitate Coltrane's sound. THE BELIEVER was recorded in 1958 but issued years later, during Coltrane's Impulse years. On the first three tracks, the masterful tenor saxophonist is joined by pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Louis Hayes, and either Donald Byrd or a young Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. An interesting aspect to the set is that it is the first example of Coltrane being associated with pianist McCoy Tyner. Tyner is not on the date, but he contributed "The Believer", which Coltrane performs along with Calvin Massey's "Nakatini Serenade" and the Rodgers & Hammerstein ballad "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?". The two Ray Draper tracks added here as a bonus were originally released under Draper's name and were chosen here because they have already been associated as bonus tracks to THE BELIEVER in previous issues.