“Moment’s Notice” | Stories of Standards

Tune in to First Take with Lando and Chavis – weekdays from 6-9 am MT – for Stories of Standards to hear our favorite versions of this song all week long!

 

“Moment’s Notice” (1957) by John Coltrane was featured on Blue Train. Recorded 9/15/1957 for Blue Note under an agreement with Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion, this hard-bop album is widely considered one of Coltrane’s best. All songs were written by Coltrane save one (“I’m Old Fashioned: by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer) and the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. While Coltrane only recorded “Moment’s Notice” once, other artists have regarded “Moment’s Notice” as a standard. Some notable recordings include those by McCoy Tyner (Supertrios 1977), Harry Connick Jr (25 2008), George Coleman (Playing Changes 1979) and Arturo Sandoval (Swingin’ 1996).

 

John Coltrane (1926-1967) was immersed in music and religion from a very early age; by high school he had turned his focus to the alto saxophone. After his tour of duty with the Navy, he returned to Philadelphia; his first experience of hearing Charlie Parker was an epiphany; as he said in an interview “the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.” In the course of his life he went from bebop and hard bop to modal and free jazz. His influence is inestimable and is epitomized by his canonization as Saint John William Coltrane in the African Orthodox Church.