Africa/Brass
by John Coltrane Quartet

Africa/Brass by John Coltrane Quartet
Year: 1961
Release date: 1961-09-01
Overall rank: 2,515th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 134 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1961 (6th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (229th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,515th)

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John Coltrane Quarte - Africa/Brass - Limited 180-Gram Red Colored Vinyl with Bo
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John Coltrane Quartet - Africa / Brass - JAPAN Vinyl - IMPULSE! - SNY-3
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John Coltrane Quartet - Africa / Brass (Bonus Tracks) [Colored Vinyl] [Limited
Condition: New


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John Coltrane Quartet bestography

Africa/Brass is ranked 7th best out of 88 albums by John Coltrane on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by John Coltrane is A Love Supreme which is ranked number 75 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 15,414.

John Coltrane Quartet album bestography « Higher ranked (2,345th)
Olé Coltrane
This album (2,515th)
Africa/Brass
Lower ranked (2,899th) »
Meditations

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Africa/Brass track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Africa/Brass rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,515th | 1960s rank: 229th | 1961 rank: 6th

Africa/Brass collection

Africa/Brass ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 134 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 134 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
03/06/2026 09:25 Leginlists  Ratings distribution  2,96483/100
 
80/100
 
03/01/2026 16:56 sweetness  Ratings distribution  1,07279/100
 
85/100
 
12/10/2025 22:51 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,15470/100
 
85/100
 
12/08/2025 14:47 VictorVale  Ratings distribution  3,75281/100
 
80/100
 
12/01/2025 17:59 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33049/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.1/100, a mean average of 79.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.3.

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Africa/Brass comments

Showing all 5 comments |
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Rating:  
90/100
From 01/21/2024 14:33 | #301368
Solid 9/10 with "Blues Minor" as the standout track.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/14/2024 15:34 | #301168
Very creative and beautiful avant-garde jazz from one of the best musicians in this genre.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 10/18/2020 23:51 | #259412
70/100

Favourite track: Greensleeves
Worst track: Blues Minor
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 12/30/2019 04:36 | #246072
A Coltrane in search of its iconic sound with the magic quartet already.
Some simple horn arrangements packed with character to complement the quartet's performance.
Individually, this does't have Coltrane's most inspired soloist moments, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner were still developing, but Jimmy Garrison was already there.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/22/2018 12:20 | #213406
Very cool sound. I love the big band sound and experimentation on Africa and the rework of Greensleeves. Surprised how low this is on Coltrane's discography on this site tbh.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1961
1. My Favorite Things by John Coltrane
2. King Of The Delta Blues Singers by Robert Johnson
3. Sunday At The Village Vanguard by Bill Evans Trio
4. Free Jazz by Ornette Coleman Double Quartet
5. Olé Coltrane by John Coltrane
6. Africa/Brass by John Coltrane Quartet
7. The Blues And The Abstract Truth by Oliver Nelson
8. Showcase by Patsy Cline
9. Two Steps From The Blues by Bobby Bland
10. Eastern Sounds by Yusef Lateef
11. This Is Our Music by Ornette Coleman
12. The Genius Sings The Blues by Ray Charles
13. West Side Story (The Original Sound Track Recording) by Various Artists
14. Someday My Prince Will Come by The Miles Davis Sextet
15. Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane by Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane
16. Djangology by Django Reinhardt
17. Lonely And Blue by Roy Orbison
18. A Night In Tunisia by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
19. Out Of The Cool by Gil Evans Orchestra
20. Time Further Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet