John Coltrane - Crescent

Acoustic Sounds Series reissues from Verve/Universal Music Enterprises!

Monthly releases highlighting the world's most historic and best jazz records!

Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes

180-gram LPs pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jackets

Series supervised by Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds

Click to see the Acoustic Sounds Series

"...the pressing is solid — manufactured at Quality Record Pressings — with dark black 180-gram vinyl that is well centered. It sounds great and sounds like what I would expect a 1964 Impulse Records release to sound like — it does not feel like the recording has been overly EQ'd or modernized along the way. So kudos again to Ryan K. Smith who has handled all the mastering for the Acoustic Sounds releases at Sterling Sound — if you look closely at the run-out-groove (aka "dead wax") you'll see his initials and the "Sterling" stamp. The cover art is again, like most of the Acoustic Sounds and Tone Poet series reissues I've encountered, manufactured to a very high standard that is arguably better than the originals - super glossy laminated sleeves made of thick cardboard with superb quality reproduction of the original artwork, design and photography. ... If you are a vinyl and Coltrane fan, you'll probably want to pick up one of these fine reissues sooner than later as they tend to disappear from store shelves quickly." — Mark Smotroff, Audiophile Review, Sept. 14, 202. Read the entire review here.

"Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes, the Acoustic Sounds vinyl edition of the stereo recording stands out for its transparency, pinpointing the individual contributions of each band member and also capturing the synergy of an ensemble that, since its first performance in 1960, continued to reach new musical heights. The deep, woody sound of Jimmy Garrison's bass solo on 'Lonnie's Lament' and the timbre of Elvin Jones' drum solo on "The Drum Thing" have a startling in-the-room presence." — Music = 5/5; Sound = 4.5/5 — Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound.

"Recorded in December of 1964, A Love Supreme was Coltrane's biggest seller and the record most familiar to casual listeners. However, if called on to satisfy myself with a single Coltrane album for the rest of time, the title I would choose is Crescent. ... Rudy Van Gelder recorded the music on Crescent during two sessions. ... Crescent was recorded in stereo only and released in both mono fold-down and stereo versions. ... Remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, this reissue, which was pressed at Quality Record Pressings, blends the channels into a seamless soundstage, one that sounds more natural than that of my original mono pressing. ... In some subtle ways relating to air and delicacy, I'd have to give the slight edge to my original mono pressing, but this reissue's increase in dynamics and punch, coupled with the wonderful soundstage and impressive tonal quality, make it the one I'll reach for most often." — Music = 5/5; Sound = 4.5/5 — Dennis Davis, The Audio Beat. Read Davis's full review here.

"Two new Coltrane reissues on vinyl, from the partnership of Universal Music and Acoustic Sounds typify the breadth of (Coltrane's) range and the depths of his explorations. ... The sound quality of both, engineered by Rudy Van Gelder and mastered by Ryan Smith, is very good, with caveats. ... On Crescent, Coltrane is vivid throughout, but on the tracks recorded in April, the piano and drums sound thin; on the tracks from June they sound fine. Luckily 'Wise One' and 'Lonnie's Lament' were laid down in June. These are classics." — Fred Kaplan, Stereophile, April 2022

"Ryan Smith has done a masterful job (no pun intended) with what again sounds like a master tape copy (unless the original tape has just lost some top end) at least based on a 'top end' comparison where on the original Coltrane's sax has greater 'presence' texture and air and Jones's drum kit more natural sizzle — as well as there being more 'room air' — but it's also easy to make a case for far better bass and piano presentation on the reissue. Rudy's original sounds as if he's rolled off the bottom and done a bit of compression. Overall if forced to choose one, I'm not sure I'd take the original over the new reissue, though I'm not selling the original (mine's a second label, red/black, but otherwise a first pressing). That's how good this is." — Music = 10/11; Sound = 10/11 — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. To read Fremer's full review, click here.

Released in 1964, Crescent is one of sax master John Coltrane's finest albums, featuring the talents of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. During 1964 John Coltrane spent the least amount of time in the recording studio of his entire solo career. It wasn't until April 27 that ‘Trane, along with Tyner, Garrison and Jones went to the familiar surroundings of Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliff's studio to begin work on the album that came to be called, Crescent.

They recorded all the tracks that appear on Crescent, along with "Songs Of Praise," but not the final versions of the album's five tracks. From that first day's recording the ones that make the final cut are, "Lonnie's Lament," "The Drum Thing" and "Wise One." The first two of these three tracks make up all of side two of the album and on "Lonnie's Lament" Coltrane does not solo at all, instead it features a long bass solo by Garrison.

Garrison's widow recalled that this album along with A Love Supreme, which was released a year later in 1965, were the two that her husband listened to the most.

Music

Sound

Ratings from Michael Fremer @ AnalogPlanet.com

Side A

1. Crescent

2. Wise One

3. Bessie's Blues

Side B

1. Lonnie's Lament

2. The Drum Thing

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 3 person(s) rated this product.

Dead quiet pressing posted on 06/20/2022 5 Stars Reviewer: Martin Just picked this up at my local shop and its fantastic! Dead quiet, great work by Acoustic Sounds. One small issue on my copy is there is a crack in the gatefold but its not a deal breaker & the image is a bit grainy too. Still 5 stars.

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