[1][2][3][8] Most of the album features Coltrane playing with his former Miles Davis bandmates, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb during two sessions in November and December, 1959.

In 1959, Miles Davis' business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms including a $7000 annual guarantee.

[10] When he returned to the studio in November and December for the Coltrane Jazz recording sessions, he employed the rhythm section from the Miles Davis Quintet.

After leaving Davis's band in the spring of 1960, Coltrane formed his first touring quartet for a residency at the Jazz Gallery club in Manhattan.

[13] This group entered the studio on October 21, recording "Village Blues" at the beginning of the week of sessions that produced Coltrane's My Favorite Things album.