condition (record/cover): NM / NM

The 1958 Savoy sessions co-led with flugelhornist Wilbur Harden, built on African themes years before such gestures became common currency in jazz - a quiet piece of prophecy from the middle of the hard bop era. John Coltrane relaxed and lyrical over long, easy grooves, with Tommy Flanagan's elegant piano in the rhythm section and Harden's round, mellow tone as the perfect contrast to the tenor's edge. This corner of the discography stays criminally underrated: no fireworks, no manifesto, just beautiful playing on open forms with Africa on the horizon. The vault sessions that reward everyone who bothers to visit them.