Guest Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 So, now that this baby is out, can anybody give me a verdict? Does this one deliver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 NY Times October 11, 2005 From the Family Closet, a New Coltrane Album By NATE CHINEN At this summer's JVC Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., Ravi Coltrane took on a potentially forbidding task: tenor and soprano saxophone duties with McCoy Tyner, the pianist and sole remaining member of the John Coltrane Quartet. Inevitably, the pairing stirred echoes of that epochal band, subjecting the younger Coltrane to an impossible standard. That he managed to acknowledge his father's saxophone influence without emulation was, in itself, a complex feat. "He's got a handle on the legacy," Mr. Tyner said later, "but he's not mimicking his father in any way." But then, Mr. Coltrane, 40, has had time to refine his relationship to the family legacy. He became a saxophonist in his early 20's and gained his first major professional experience with Elvin Jones, his father's explosive drummer. In his solo career, which began on record only seven years ago, he has been careful to establish his own identity. Yet he has also served, unassumingly, as a steward of his father's music, a background role that is both personal and increasingly public - as illustrated by the release today of the striking new John Coltrane album, "One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note" (Impulse!) , featuring a pair of performances by the Coltrane Quartet in the spring of 1965. "This Half Note material really comes at a summit," Mr. Coltrane said by phone recently from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he was on tour. "It's the high point of a sound that the band had been cultivating, basically, since 1961. The music that was recorded there comes at the strongest point of that band, playing that sound. Right after that, they start changing and going other places." Fortunately for jazz fans, the Half Note album comes on the heels of more newly issued Coltrane: "Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall," a 1957 concert recording discovered in the Library of Congress in February and issued on Blue Note Records a few weeks ago to wide critical acclaim. As a rare document of the saxophonist's most storied apprenticeship, the recording has been heralded as a missing link in the chain of modern jazz. Mr. Coltrane was more temperate in his assessment of the Carnegie tapes, which he described as "beautiful music." (He made this sound almost like a criticism.) He was halfway through a European tour with his own quartet, which was responsible for one of this year's most cohesive new jazz albums, "In Flux" (Savoy). His path to the Coltrane legacy was circuitous. Mr. Coltrane was 2 when his father died, so he was brought up in Los Angeles by his mother, Alice Coltrane, a pianist and accomplished artist in her own right. Even though music, including his father's, was ubiquitous in the household, he turned seriously to jazz only after his older brother, John Jr., died in a car accident in 1982. Ravi Coltrane, then in high school, was hit hard by the loss; he wandered for several years. It was during this time that he began listening in earnest to his father's records; he was tired, he said, of being embarrassed by his ignorance. He was surprised by his connection to the music. It led him to recordings by Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins - and to the saxophone. Some of Mr. Coltrane's earliest playing was with his mother, who had quietly continued making music after withdrawing to form a Vedantic meditation center, in 1975. Last year he shepherded the release of her first studio effort in more than 25 years, the warmly meditative "Translinear Light" (Impulse!). Mr. Coltrane first encountered the tapes that became the album "One Down, One Up" in 1991, in a closet in his mother's house. He has been angling for their release for 10 years, since the revival of the Impulse! label; the Verve Music Group, the label's corporate parent for seven of those years, has included some of Mr. Coltrane's smaller finds as bonus tracks on reissued CD's and will probably continue to do so. The "One Down" performances, originally broadcast by the radio D.J. Alan Grant, mark the beginning of the final phase in his father's career, Mr. Coltrane said - emphatically celestial music marked by exploratory free improvisation, blistering atonality and, eventually, new musicians. By the start of 1966, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones had both essentially decamped, less embittered than alienated. ("There's no gain without a little pain," Mr. Tyner said last week with a fond chuckle.) The permanent installment of Alice Coltrane on piano and Rashied Ali on drums usually delimits the saxophonist's final transition. "But his last period actually starts right in the middle of 1965," Mr. Coltrane suggested. "It starts with this group: with McCoy and Elvin and Jimmy Garrison." The music supports his assertion. Tension crackles throughout the album's four songs, three of which approach or exceed the 20-minute mark. Mr. Tyner delivers a solo on "Afro Blue" that matches any in his career for expressive drama. The whole quartet strains for weightless transcendence with "Song of Praise." The pièce de résistance is a 27-minute-long tenor saxophone exertion on the album's title track that seems to enfold the entirety of Coltrane's musical experience in its sinewy embrace. An athletic and intellectual marvel, the solo has circulated for years as a hallowed bootleg among tenor saxophonists like David Liebman and Michael Brecker; its influence has been unseen but surely felt. Mr. Coltrane was born a few months after the second of these broadcasts, and still cites the "One Down, One Up" solo as his favorite John Coltrane Quartet recording. But one gets the sense that it is no longer needed as a conduit to the man he has known only through music. "There was a period in my life, about a year, where I listened to it every day," he recalled. "I'd always have a cassette, or a mini-disc or a DAT; I'd keep one with me, no matter what. I always thought, If the plane starts going down, I'm going to put this on, because it's really the last thing I want to hear." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 So, now that this baby is out, can anybody give me a verdict? Does this one deliver? ← If you don't have the LaserLight version, I think this is a must buy. If you do have the LaserLight version, I'd hold out for a used copy (or a really good sale). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 the 1960 Paris gig w/Miles I don't think I ever managed to track that one down. Is it floating around in any form at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md655321 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Ravi Coltrane took on a potentially forbidding task: tenor and soprano saxophone duties with McCoy Tyner, the pianist and sole remaining member of the John Coltrane Quartet. Even after awhile that sentance stopped me in my tracks as I immediately thought "what about elvin?" Then it clicked in. Again. Trane was dead nearly 25 years before I was born, but I can still picture Elvin smilin on the bandstand. Im looking forward to hearing the Half Note cd though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 finished disc 1 and I am short of breath. That whole disc is like an endorphin rush, seriously. That solo, wow. The fadeout at the end of Afro Blue is kinda a shame but its a radio broadcast. But man....................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Shoot -- it looks like another essential release to get (and my finances are tight this month), though I will be seriously pissed if they offer an expanded edition with all the music in six months. So is "Creation" as good as Guy says it is, and how come Verve didn't see fit to release that? Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 This is a great 2 disc set in fine sound, for all of $15. What took you so long, Ravi Coltrane? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 So is "Creation" as good as Guy says it is, and how come Verve didn't see fit to release that? C'mon, someone jump in and vouch for my integrity! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Consider yourself vouched! "Creation" was my first hearing of the 65 Half Note material, on a Moon CD. To say that it was a total mindfuck is like saying that Antartica is cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted October 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 That's cold!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 For those who've heard both this and the boots, how's this sound in comparison? Is this taken from the broadcast as well, with the announcer's intros? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 I have an LP bootleg, haven't heard any CD bootleg--The impulse release is way better than the LP set--it's actually better than a number of the concerts in the European tour box set. For those who've heard both this and the boots, how's this sound in comparison? Is this taken from the broadcast as well, with the announcer's intros? ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 I picked this up this afternoon. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Johnson Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 But imo, this material comes as close to capturing the "ecstasy" that we so often read about in contemporaneous reviews of Trane's live gigs as any recordings that I've heard so far. ← I have to stop listening to this stuff this year, or my head will explode. First Diz/Bird, then Paris 1960, now this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Got it today. Outstanding! This is the kind of Trane we used to listen to in college in various, um, altered states. It's even better with a clear head! The stamina of these guys (especially Trane and Elvin) is staggering. And Trane's harmonic vocabulary at this stage is extensive to say the least. Absolutely no complaints about the quality of the sound from me. This has been a year of many sonic blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Got it today. Outstanding! This is the kind of Trane we used to listen to in college in various, um, altered states. It's even better with a clear head! The stamina of these guys (especially Trane and Elvin) is staggering. And Trane's harmonic vocabulary at this stage is extensive to say the least. Absolutely no complaints about the quality of the sound from me. This has been a year of many sonic blessings! ← Yeah man, it kicks my ass. I can see myself going into another period of listening to nothing but late period Coltrane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Johnson Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Yeah man, it kicks my ass. I can see myself going into another period of listening to nothing but late period Coltrane. ← Completely agree. Spinning Sunship right now. Somehow it seems different after listening to "one up one down." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Yeah man, it kicks my ass. I can see myself going into another period of listening to nothing but late period Coltrane. ← Completely agree. Spinning Sunship right now. Somehow it seems different after listening to "one up one down." ← I think in '65 Trane was trying to catch up his studio recordings with the stuff he'd been playing live. At least, that's one way of seeing it. The gap between the Half Note stuff and what he was playing in Europe in the fall of '63 is smaller than the gap between Crescent and Transition. I'm listening to "Song of Praise" -- this is one of the best things on the Half Note tapes. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Shearn Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 this set really opened my eyes. Not sure if I'll go for "OM", "Ascension" or "Live in Seattle" and "Live in Japan" just yet, but after a full listen to both discs it changed my perspective on really intense late Trane. Perhaps the Monk/Trane album opened me as well. I also bought "The Sonny Clark Trio" RVG (a Sonny kick started after listening to "Cool Struttin"' and the live boot of the Blue Note All Stars in Japan at the Mt. Fuji fest, 1986) , damn that'll be tough to listen to after the intensity of the Trane Half Note material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Is it just me, or does anybody else's mind start to wander halfway through ANY solo that lasts 24 minutes? As great as much of this material is, I have a hard time concentrating for such long periods. I do love the intesity of this stuff more than anything else. And to hear these 4 masters at their height live in this manner is pretty breathtaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Huh? Did you just say something? It is a challenge to stay focused on some of these long Trane solos, but I think that ends up being a testament to his high level of stamina. He's playing and creating all that time, all we have to do is pay attention. A shorter attention span is a casualty of our current culture, so look at these Trane solos as a necessary trip to the "mental gym". I'm enjoying the workout, I needed this. I guess I've neglected him a bit lately- what a MF he was/is!!!! I remember in college someone bought one of those long Andrew White transcriptions (like Chasin' The Trane) and we (the "jazz guys") would lay it on the floor, open it up and it would extend through like three rooms of the house. We would put on the record and sort of huddle over it and scoot along accordingly, for the duration. Those were the days for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 (edited) finished disc 1 and I am short of breath. That whole disc is like an endorphin rush, seriously. That solo, wow. The fadeout at the end of Afro Blue is kinda a shame but its a radio broadcast. But man....................... ← I wanted to reach into my stereo and strangle the announcer. Just got it tonight, listened to it while cooking dinner. After all the hype with the "One Down, One Up" solo, I started out a little disappointed... but by 20:00, I was totally enthralled. I had a gig today where I went totally apeshit on Impressions (free "gig," so I threw in some heavy lines for the passers-by)... then I get back to my apartment, throw this on the slate, and man did that guy know how to build a solo. Back to the woodshed. Edit to say--Elvin lost his drum pedal? Damn. Edited October 14, 2005 by ep1str0phy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Is it just me, or does anybody else's mind start to wander halfway through ANY solo that lasts 24 minutes? As great as much of this material is, I have a hard time concentrating for such long periods. I do love the intesity of this stuff more than anything else. And to hear these 4 masters at their height live in this manner is pretty breathtaking. ← Oddly enough, Coltrane's solos have an organizing effect on me. I find it very easy to stay focused on what he is playing, even those solos from Live in Japan that push the hour mark. On the other hand, I have a very difficult time focusing on anyone speaking for more than a few minutes at a time, even if the subject is very interesting to me (I rarely attended my classes in grad school for that very reason - just stayed home and studied the books). I also have a hard time paying attention to TV, and especially those movies out of hollywood that seem specifically designed for the short attention span MTV generation. My mind just wanders. But Trane really locks me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 I can't wait for the mailman to drop this off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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