John Coltrane
's matchup with singer
Johnny Hartman
, although quite unexpected, works extremely well.
Hartman
was in prime form on the six
ballads
, and his versions of
"Lush Life"
and
"My One and Only Love"
have never been topped.
Coltrane
's playing throughout the session is beautiful, sympathetic, and still exploratory; he sticks exclusively to tenor on the date. At only half an hour, one wishes there were twice as much music, but what is here is classic, essential for all
jazz
collections. ~ Scott Yanow