Dakar (album)

Dakar is a jazz album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. It was released in November 1963 through Prestige Records.^[1][2]

Dakar
Studio album by Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne with John Coltrane
Released	November 1963 (1963-11)[1][2]
Recorded	April 20, 1957 Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	Hard bop
Length	39:37
Label	Prestige PRLP 7280
Producer	Teddy Charles
Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne with John Coltrane chronology
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963) Dakar (1963) Live at Birdland (1964)

Dakar is a reissue of one side of the 16+2⁄3 rpm LP Baritones and French Horns (released in 1958), a portion of which was recorded on April 20, 1957 (the same day Dakar was recorded), and which was a session led by Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne on which Coltrane was a sideman.

Dakar was one of several 1960s Prestige reissues featuring Coltrane to take advantage of his growing stardom in the 1960s.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[6]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz	[7]

In a review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer wrote: "Although at the time these were considered 'leaderless' units, upon hearing the interaction of the participants, modern ears might desire to qualify that statement" given the nature of Coltrane's contribution.^[4]

Chris May of All About Jazz commented: "It's rough and ready music, almost certainly rehearsed for the first time in the studio... but it sure is ready... A minor chapter in the Coltrane canon it may be, but Dakar is a characterful set of propulsive, pre-codification hard bop and still a delight over half a century later."^[3]

Track listing

1. "Dakar" (Teddy Charles) — 7:09
2. "Mary's Blues" (Pepper Adams) — 6:47
3. "Route 4" (Charles) — 6:55
4. "Velvet Scene" (Waldron) — 4:53
5. "Witches Pit" (Adams) — 6:42
6. "Catwalk" (Charles) — 7:11

Personnel

• John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
• Cecil Payne - baritone saxophone
• Pepper Adams - baritone saxophone
• Mal Waldron - piano
• Doug Watkins - bass
• Art Taylor - drums