John Coltrane - Olé Coltrane (1961)

Always my Coltrane of choice, Olé may have been in some way influenced by Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain from the previous year.  The sound of John Coltrane's 'Spanish tinge' album, however, was much looser and freer than those meticulous Gil Evans arrangements, and looks forward to the (further) fireworks Coltrane was just about to unleash: he'd started recording for Impulse two days prior to this Atlantic session.

The title track takes up all of the first side, and never loses your attention throughout its propulsive, thrilling 18 minutes.  McCoy Tyner keeps it on the rails throughout whilst Coltrane, Eric Dolphy (moonlighting as "George Lane") and Freddie Hubbard take turns in the spotlight.  Even the two-bass battle between Art Davis and Reggie Workman hits the spot.  The other two tracks are equally wonderful, with Dahomey Dance a great blues-based strut and the Tyner-penned Aisha an absolutely gorgeous ballad to close.

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