Blue Train Goes Gold

By I Oct. 23, 2002

A landmark jazz recording recently reached a landmark of its own as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) bestowed Gold Certification upon saxophonist John Coltrane’s classic recording Blue Train.

Blue Train, Coltrane’s sole session as a leader for Blue Note Records, was recorded in 1957 in the midst of his tenure as a sideman in bands led by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and is widely considered to be his first great recording, establishing him as a bandleader of distinction in his own right.

The certification marks album, cassette and CD sales of more than 500,000 copies, and Blue Note marked the occasion by presenting Gold plaques to the jazz legend’s son Ravi Coltrane, and widow Alice Coltrane, who lives in California and was unavailable for the presentation.