A Guide To This Discography   This discography uses a modified (and simplified) version of the format developed for The Recordings of John Coltrane: A Discography, (Second Edition), published by Wildmusic in 1979. That edition followed the format of several major discographies (notably Jepsen's classic work), with some innovations (such as the session number) which have since been adopted by many other discographers. An example of an entry from the discography is shown below; click on any of the elements of the example to see a description of that element. (Use the navigation buttons on the left to go back, or use your browser back button to get back to the entry where you started). 620411          JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET: Personnel:Coltrane, ss, ts;McCoy Tyner, p; Jimmy Garrison,, b; Elvin Jones, dr. Location: 'Van Gelder Studios', Englewood Cliffs NJ Date: 4/11/62 Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder a. "Soul Eyes"( M. Waldron ) Impulse unknown b. "The Inchworm"( F. Loesser ) 6:14 Imp A-21 c. "Big Nick"( J. Coltrane ) 4:15 Imp A-99 NOTE:"Excerpt" is probably an interim title for "Brasilia".(This note doesn't belong here but was included as part of the example)

Session Number. This number identifies the particular recording session (or concert). The number is derived from the date of the recording, with the first two digits corresponding to the year, the second two to the month, and the final two to the day (the initial "19" is assumed). Thus recording sessions and concerts, when listed according to their session number, are automatically in chronological order (and the open-ended nature of the number allows for new sessions or concerts to be inserted without renumbering existing sessions). Since the number is also the date, it can readily be derived from other information (if you know the date of the session, you know its number). If more than two sessions occurred on a single day, a capital letter is added after the number (601024A). If the exact date is not known, zeroes are substituted (571200). Back to Example:

Group Name/Leader Credit: Generally this is the name of the group, the name of the leader, or the name by which the group is commonly known. Back to Example:

Personnel: This section lists all the musicians who performed on the tracks recorded at the session and the instruments on which they performed. In those cases where musicians did not perform on all tracks, additional information is listed in the Note at the end of the entry. If the musician's name is highlighted, clicking on it will jump to a brief biographical note. A list of the abbreviations used for instruments will be added later Back to Example:

Location:This shows the location of the session. Usually the recording studio in quotes is followed by the city; in the case of a concert the concert hall or club is shown. In some cases (non-commercial recordings) the source of the recording is also shown ("radio broadcast", "private tape"). Back to Example:

Date: This block shows the date of the recording, in American format (mm/dd/yy). In some cases the time may also be shown. Back to Example:

Engineer: This lists the engineer or engineers for the recording (mostly for commercial recordings where the information is available). Back to Example:

Take Letter: This letter is assigned to the titles recorded at this session, in chronological sequence. If more than 26 tracks were recorded, double letters would be used. In combination with the session number this produces a unique alphanumeric symbol for each different item in the discography. NOTE: in this abbreviated discography I have not included the master or matrix number assigned to the track by the recording company, and I have not listed the unissued alternate takes of each title (especially those which are incomplete), unless they have been issued separately. Back to Example:

Title: The title of the track. Where several titles exist, I have usually used either the earliest title or the commonly accepted title (especially if the commonly accepted title is the one used in all releases). Variants are usually discussed in the NOTE or on the notes page. In some cases either a working title (i.e. "Two Three Four") or "Unknown Title" have been used when better information is not available. Back to Example:

Composer: The author or authors of the music. I usually include the individual who wrote the lyrics (if appropriate). Back to Example:

Length of the Take: Expressed in minutes and seconds (where available). This can vary considerably depending on the issue, and should be taken as approximate. Back to Example:

Attributions: Usually this shows the original issue for the track. If this is a non-commercial recording, phrases such as "private tape;" will show up first, followed by the issue. (As noted elsewhere, I have not included sessions which exist only as private tapes). In the next update to this online discography, I will include information about issue equivalents (reissues, CD issues, etc), accessible through a hyperlink. Currently however only the original issue is generally shown. Back to Example:

Alternate Attributions: In some cases the attribution space is used to provide other information about the track, using one of the following standard phrases:

• Private tape This indicates that the particular track exists only as a performance tape and has not been issued
• Unissued This indicates that a studio recording exists but has not yet been released. The implication is that the track in question is known to exist
• Unknown This indicates that a studio recording existed but its current existence cannot be confirmed. For example, this is used to identify tracks that were recorded but which are not in the possession of GRP Impulse. Such material is occasionally found elsewhere, but currently its status is unknown.
• Lost This indicates that the listed track no longer exists.
• Rejected: This is used (rarely) to identify a track which was not deemed acceptable.
• Coltrane Out: This is used to identify a track on which Coltrane does not perform.
• Back to Example

Note: This is used to convey information of immediate interest. More extensive information is accessed by clicking the NOTES hyperlink button. Back to Example:

Back To Top: Click here to return to the top of this page. Back to Example:

Coltrane Index: Click here to return to the main index (Main Coltrane page). Back to Example:

Home: Click here to return to the home page for the WEB site. Back to Example:

Notes: Click here for additional information on the track, session, or year. Back to Example:

Links: Click here to jump to a link with additional information (usually the record company's page for the release, with musical excerpts). Back to Example:

Help!: Click here to get to this help screen. Back to Example:

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