The John Coltrane Quartet: Ballads Ltd Clr

LP Record Although some critics considered Coltrane's Ballads album too lightweight, there is nothing wrong with it. The jazz saxophonist does what he always does: he explores new ways of playing with a relentless drive for personal and artistic development. On the Ballads album, he highlights his gentler side – a path he also took with Johnny Hartman and Duke Ellington. This collaboration with McCoy Tyner is neither confrontational nor outwardly focused. Coltrane is completely at one with himself, sometimes predictable, and yet these are the album's strengths.