Coltrane, John: Ole Coltrane LP

John Coltrane's final album for Atlantic bookends the exploratory motifs he explores on his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass, recorded concurrently, with each involving knotty rhythmic shifts and Spanish-derived textures. Bonding with an amazing band that includes pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and an uncredited Eric Dolphy (due to contractual reasons), Coltrane welcomes improvisations and ranging outside conventional parameters, all the while retaining melodic beauty. Yet the biggest attraction on the 1961 effort comes via the double-bass interplay between Art Davis and Reggie Workman, whose back-and-forth exchanges produce heat and cause the leader to up his own game.