This Roulette CD combines two unrelated sessions. Coltrane is heard in a quintet with the tuba player Ray Draper (their second album together) playing five standards (including "Doxy" and "Oleo") and Draper's "Essii's Dance." The 1960 performances are more significant for they are the earliest recorded collaborations by Coltrane and pianist McCoy Tyner. Together with bassist Steve Davis and drummer Billy Higgins they perform "One and Four," "Like Sonny" and two takes of "Exotica," music that barely predates 'Trane's classic quartet and succeeds on its own terms.
All Music Guide