Harold Danko - After the Rain (SteepleChase, 1994)

Harold Danko, piano

Recorded August 4, 1994
SteepleChase Digital Studio
Engineer: Nils Winther

After the Rain is Harold Danko's solo tribute to the music of John Coltrane. As Danko explains in the booklet notes, his fascination with Coltrane began in his early teens as a "pleasurable struggle to somehow adapt his ideas for the piano." I was also fascinated by Coltrane during the 1960s but would never have expected any Coltrane tribute album to feature an hour of solo piano. Trane's tenor and soprano in group settings are so dominant, both technically and emotionally. How could such powerful expression translate to the keyboard?

The answer comes from Danko's discovery that "the flow of the harmonies and lines are actually well suited to the piano, especially with regard to their ties to the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel." I could not have imagined 60 years ago that Coltrane and impressionism were compatible, but I now hear those associations in Danko's interpretations. And they are spellbinding.

Once committed to the recording session, Danko writes: "...my concept of what I was doing changed and enlarged quite spontaneously...Edits seemed out of place in the company of such honest music, so we decided against them." As a result, the album steers away from a mere recital of Coltrane's works, and toward novel improvisations. In one sense, Danko is merely applying Coltrane's own practice of improvising extensively on these same compositions.

Fourteen selections, all familiar to Coltrane fans, range in length from 3:26 to 6:37 minutes. Certain selections demonstrate Danko's ability to elaborate seemingly simple themes, showing them to be more complex than presumed. "Syeeda's Song Flute," "Like Sonny," "Your Lady," and "Straight Street" are the best examples. 

Other selections plumb the depths of Coltrane's compositions to reveal new emotional layers. Danko's versions of "After the Rain," "Lonnie's Lament," and "Wise One" amplify my understanding and appreciation of Coltrane's more meditative works. Again, I never would have expected this from a solo piano album.

Since 1977, Danko has served as Professor and Emeritus Professor of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  His recorded contributions to jazz span more than 40 years and include dozens of albums on SteepleChase, many with his quartet featuring Rich Perry.