Impressions is a jazz standard composed by John Coltrane. It was written and recorded across two studio dates in 1962 and 1963, and appears on the 1963 Impulse! album Impressions, with later reissues including the 1962 session and a 2018 release of the 1963 take on Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album. Coltrane first performed it live during his 1961 Village Vanguard residency, and the title track is known for a nearly fifteen minute solo. The tune’s chord progression is the same as Miles Davis’s So What, itself derived from Ahmad Jamal’s Pavanne, making it a landmark modal jazz piece. The original quartet—McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones—is joined on some performances by Eric Dolphy and Reggie Workman. Impressions has become a jazz standard and helped shape Coltrane’s explorations of modality, Indian-inspired music, blues, and more, influencing later jazz and even rock acts.
