Lush Life

One reason can easily be attributed to the interesting personnel and the subsequent lack of a keyboard player for the August 16, 1957, session that yielded the majority of the material. Coltrane (tenor sax) had to essentially lead the compact trio of himself, Earl May (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). The intimate setting is perfect for ballads such as the opener ‘Like Someone in Love'. John Coltrane doesn’t have to supplement the frequent redundancy inherent in pianists, so he has plenty of room to express himself through simple and ornate passages. May provides a platform for Coltrane’s even keeled runs before the tenor drops out, allowing both Earl May and then Art Taylor a chance to shine. The fun cat-and-mouse-like antics continue as Taylor can be heard encouraging the tenor player to raise the stakes and the tempo – which he does to great effect.