Spotlight On: John Coltrane

[Ojai Sam]

Ascension, Edition I (Impulse! A-95)

Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson (trumpet) Marion Brown, John Tchicai (alto sax) John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp (tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 28, 1965
90321-1 Ascension, Edition I: Part I
90322-1 Ascension, Edition I: Part II

Ascension, Edition II (Impulse! A-95 (later))
same session
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 28, 1965
90321-2 Ascension, Edition II: Part I
90322-2 Ascension, Edition II: Part II

 

[Ojai Sam]

Sun Ship (Impulse! AS-9211)

John Coltrane (tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
RCA Victor Studios, NYC, August 26, 1965

 

[Ojai Sam]

Om (Impulse! A-9140)

Joe Brazil (flute, percussion) Donald Garrett (bass clarinet, bass, percussion) John Coltrane (tenor sax) Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax, percussion) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
Camelot Sound Studios, Lynwood, WA, October 1, 1965

 

[Ojai Sam]

Meditations (Impulse! A-9110)

John Coltrane (left channel tenor sax, percussion) Pharoah Sanders (right channel tenor sax, tambourine, bells) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (left channel drums) Elvin Jones (right channel drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 23, 1965

 

[Ojai Sam]

Our first bonus disc today is the preliminary version of Meditations recorded by the quartet and released years later as...

First Meditations (Impulse! AS-9332)

John Coltrane (tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 2, 1965

 

[Ojai Sam]

Moving even further into the avant garde is Infinity, a collection of tracks from three different sessions in 1965 and 1966 released in 1972 with overdubbed strings:

Infinity (Impulse! AS-9225)
John Coltrane (soprano, tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums) + Alice Coltrane (harp, tambura) Joan Chapman (tambura) Oran Coltrane (bells) + string section: Murray Adler (concertmaster) James Getzoff or Jerry Vinci, Gordon Marron, Michael White (violin) Rollice Dale, Myra Kestenbaum (viola) Jesse Ehrlich, Ed Lustgarten (cello)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 16, 1965;
overdubbed at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA, April 16 & 17, 1972
Living Space (overdubbed version)

John Coltrane (tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums) + Alice Coltrane (harp, vibes) Charlie Haden (bass) + string section: Murray Adler (concertmaster) James Getzoff or Jerry Vinci, Gordon Marron, Michael White (violin) Rollice Dale, Myra Kestenbaum (viola) Jesse Ehrlich, Ed Lustgarten (cello)
Coast Recorders, San Francisco, CA, September 22, 1965;
overdubbed at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA, April 16 & 17, 1972
Joy (overdubbed version)

Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax, piccolo) John Coltrane (tenor sax, bass clarinet) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums) Ray Appleton (percussion) + Alice Coltrane (vibes, organ) Charlie Haden (bass) + string section: Murray Adler (concertmaster) James Getzoff or Jerry Vinci, Gordon Marron, Michael White (violin) Rollice Dale, Myra Kestenbaum (viola) Jesse Ehrlich, Ed Lustgarten (cello)
Coast Recorders, San Francisco, CA, February 2, 1966;
overdubbed at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA, April 16 & 17, 1972
Peace On Earth (overdubbed version)
Leo (overdubbed version)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Finally, we get another exciting live album, released posthumously, that shows Trane reaching beyond the confines of the quartet with the addition of Pharoah Sanders:

Live In Seattle (Impulse! AS-9202-2)

Donald Garrett (bass clarinet, bass) Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax) John Coltrane (tenor, soprano sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
"The Penthouse", Seattle, WA, September 30, 1965

 

[Ojai Sam]

1966:

After enjoying such a productive year in the studio in 1965, Trane released no regular albums from his few 1966 sessions. Fortunately, his efforts are well documented with live recordings. Caution! These are not for the faint of heart. John really pushed the envelope with his "sheets of sound" on stage, especially in Japan.

Live At The Village Vanguard Again! (Impulse! A-9124)
John Coltrane (soprano, tenor sax, bass clarinet) Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax, flute) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums) Emanuel Rahim (percussion)
"Village Vanguard", NYC, May 28, 1966

 

[Ojai Sam]

Concert In Japan (Impulse! 9246-2)
John Coltrane (soprano, alto, tenor sax, percussion) Pharoah Sanders (alto, tenor sax, bass clarinet, percussion) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums) Hisato Aikura (announcer)

"Shinjuku Koseinenkin Kaikan", Tokyo, Japan, July 22, 1966

 

[Ojai Sam]

1967:

Expression (Impulse! A-9120)

Pharoah Sanders (piccolo) John Coltrane (flute) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 15, 1967
90769 To Be

John Coltrane (tenor sax) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums)
90770 Offering

same personnel
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 7, 1967
90777 Ogunde

same personnel
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, circa spring 1967
Expression

 

[Ojai Sam]

Stellar Regions (Impulse! IMP-169)

John Coltrane (tenor sax) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 15, 1967

 

[Ojai Sam]

Interstellar Space (Impulse! ASD-9277)

John Coltrane (tenor sax, bells) Rashied Ali (drums)
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 22, 1967

 

[Ojai Sam]

Today's bonus disc is Trane's final recording, a concert he performed 3 months before his death:

The Olatunji Concert - The Last Live Recording (Impulse! 314 589 120-2)
John Coltrane (soprano, tenor sax) Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax) Alice Coltrane (piano) Jimmy Garrison (bass) Rashied Ali (drums) Algie DeWitt (bata drum) Juma (percussion) Billy Taylor (announcer)
"Olatunji Center Of African Culture", NYC, April 23, 1967

 

[Ojai Sam]

Our trip through the recordings of John Coltrane has come to an end. We can only wonder what new musical territory he would have explored had he lived longer.

This project has been a real education for me, as I have never really delved into Trane's albums systematically. Big thanks to The Jazz Discography Project (www.jazzdisco.org) for all session information that appears in this thread.

 

[Ojai Sam]

I've been meaning to add some supplementary material to this thread and UMG has given me the perfect reason to do so: a cache of unheard Trane, lost in the vault for 55 years.

Both Directions At Once - Deluxe Edition (Impulse! B0028228-2, released 2018)

John Coltrane, tenor, soprano sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 6, 1963

11382 Vilia (takes 3 & 5)
11383 Untitled Original 11383 (take 1)
11384 Nature Boy
11385 Impressions (takes 1, 2, 3, 4)
11386 Untitled Original (takes 1, 2, 5)
11387 One Up, One Down (takes 1 & 6)
11388 Slow Blues

This session was recorded the day before John's essential album with vocalist Johnny Hartman. There's no clear answer why these tracks were never released. Quality certainly isn't the problem. They are outstanding examples of the classic quartet at its peak. The label's master tapes were destroyed in ABC's infamous house cleaning but fortunately, Naima Coltrane, John's first wife, kept his reference copy.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Offering: Live At Temple University (Impulse B0019632-2, released 2014)

John Coltrane, soprano, tenor sax, flute, vocals; Pharoah Sanders, tenor sax, piccolo; Alice Coltrane, piano; Sonny Johnson, bass; Rashied Ali, drums; additional musicians include: Arnold Joyner, Steve Knoblauch, alto sax; Umar Ali, Charles Brown, Robert Kenyatta, congas; Angie DeWitt, bata drum.

Mitten Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA,
November 11, 1966

COLTRANE SINGS!

John Coltrane's work moved further and further into the avant garde after Alice Coltrane replaced McCoy Tyner on piano in January 1966. His challenging July performances in Japan have long been available. However, it was only recently that the Temple University show could be enjoyed other than on an incomplete bootleg with dire sound.

Trane performed at Philadelphia's Temple University while he was enjoying an extended visit to his home town during the fall of 1966. The crowd of about 700 people (in a hall that seated 1800) consisted of both students and locals. His performance is even more frenzied than the ones from July, so much so that on two occasions he started singing and beating his chest.

Despite the growing influence of rock on jazz artists, nothing here reminds me of Miles Davis' journey into fusion. The mild-mannered Coltrane, still wearing a suit and tie, is far wilder than the dashiki-clad Miles, giving the impression of a man simultaneously wrestling with his demons and his saxophone. The primal scream unleashed in Philly more closely echoes the post-Yoko work of John Lennon, tempting one to compare Alice with Ono.

Apart from the Japanese shows, Offering represents our only opportunity to hear John between May 1966 and February 1967. As such, it is an invaluable historical document but a difficult listen.

on the Sam-O-Meter.