Coltrane's Olatunji Concert

[Guy Berger]

I think this review is pretty stupid.

Guy

[JSngry]

It seems as if Mr. Fleming is upset!

Oh well.

[7/4]

Looks stupid to me too.

[RDK]

I don't think he enjoyed it much.

(Neither did I, but I fear it's more my failing than Coltrane's.)

Edited July 12, 2004 by RDK

[mikeweil]

Well, this music is not for enjoying, I reckon ....

One might wonder wether this man has listened to any post-1965 Coltrane at all.

[danasgoodstuff]

I liked the review of this CD which likened Pharogh's playing thereon to "a cow being tortured, but in a good way..."

[Spontooneous]

The disc has been out for at least two years -- what's the point of reviewing it now?

Note in the fine print that it comes from that bastion of excellent, trustworthy and knowledgeable jazz writing, Goldmine.

[Eric]

I liked the review of this CD which likened Pharogh's playing thereon to "a cow being tortured, but in a good way..."

LOL

[Parkertown]

Ok guys, yeah yeah yeah. Who's gonna start defending this recording?

I don't find this an easy listen, either. I'm gonna sell mine. Who's gonna talk me out of it? What should I be hearing that I'm not? And I love Coltrane. I enjoy listening to a lot of his free/late period stuff. But not this one...

This is music to play if you wanna get divorced, okay? (According to my wife, )

[jazzbo]

Not easy to listen to at all, I'll not deny that, and I can sure understand living without it. But I like to hear it now and then (and will bring it out again soon as the stereo is sounding great these days and that HELPS believe it or not). Man, Pharoah. . . it's just the energy that he unleashes, the feeling in his sound just washes into me and it's very catharctic! That's the main thing I have this one for. . . Pharoah and the cleansing!

[7/4]

Oh yes...

[JSngry]

Who's gonna start defending this recording?

I would, but there's nothing to defend as far as I'm concerned. It is what it is, and you like it or dislike it based on that, same as anything else.

Is it "easy" music? That depends, I suppose. For me, this was the kind of stuff that first drew me into jazz. It seemed like a logical step from Hendrix into this, Ayler, etc. So, musically, I find it quite to be quite "easy". I know that I'm probably not even close to being "the norm" in this regard, but I'm not the Lone Ranger either, trust me.

As for the "sound quality", hell, it's a 35+ year old homemade recording. It's going to be "like that". That bothers some people, and doesn't others. Put me in the latter camp. Actually, I find the amateurishness of the recording revealing, in that it gives a different emphasis to Rashied and Jimmy - they're a lot more "up front" than on "official" recordings, and what a lot of times is felt more than heard is here heard quite clearly. I dig that. I'd even go so far as to call it "instructive" for anybody who cared about stuff like that.

Not for "beginners", sure, and definitely not for those who get off the Trane no later than, say QUARTET PLAYS. But like a buddy of mine used to say, "There it is if you like it, there it is if you don't like it."

I like it.

[dave9199]

I "remastered" mine on my computer. All they had to do was pull down the mids a bit and it's not as hard to listen to. How come I had the idea & not the record company? It seems they stuck to the sound too truthfully.

Edited July 14, 2004 by dave9199