Late Posted November 12, 2021 Report Share Posted November 12, 2021 Over the years this has become one of my favorite Coltrane records. I still haven't entirely warmed to "To Be," but the other tracks have such incredible presence. The opener "Ogunde," besides being a beautiful melody, seems like a farewell of sorts, as if Coltrane knew his time on Earth was ending. "Offering" has to be one the best tracks Coltrane ever committed to vinyl (while it technically belongs to the "Stellar Regions" session). And the title track itself? Filled with emotion. What's your experience with this record? When did you first hear it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 12, 2021 Report Share Posted November 12, 2021 First heard it ca. 1976 or so, liked it then, liked it now. Strong until the end. Not needing the flute stuff on it, but oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted November 13, 2021 Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 I first heard it some time in the 70's. Personally have never taken to it, but it did seem to be looking for new frontiers for him to explore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 13, 2021 Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 This is one I didn't get to until the 'eighties. It grows on me more and more, even the flute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted November 13, 2021 Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 I picked it up for a buck or two during the Great Vinyl Purge of the 1990s. I was happy that Alice was on the album, as I was trying to find a lot of her stuff. I was acquiring a lot of Coltrane on vinyl at that time, and some of the later albums blur together for me. I will have to revisit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted November 13, 2021 Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 It’s great, but I like Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions more. Wish we had even more recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted November 13, 2021 Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 One of my favorite Coltrane albums as well. What I love about the later works is that there's so much variation, no one album or recording is quite like the others. Expression is one of the more unique among them. I find it endlessly fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted November 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2021 49 minutes ago, colinmce said: I find it endlessly fascinating. Same. Expression was actually the third Coltrane record I ever bought. I didn't know what I was purchasing at the time, and it freaked me out. I spun it once and sold it. Four years went by, and I purchased it again. This time I knew what I was getting into. 14 hours ago, Guy Berger said: Wish we had even more recordings. Me too. In fact, I think about this way too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 (edited) Expression has always had a place in my heart as something like the last word from Trane. Some of it is quite beautiful as well. At the time I bought it in the mid-70s, Stellar Regions, the Temple concert, and the Olatunji Concert were still far from being discovered/released. Therefore, for a long time, along with Interstellar Space, Expression was the only real sound picture we had of Trane at the end. It was a distinct picture too. Stellar regions filled out that picture even more. But the Olatunji Concert sort of shattered it, making everything a bit more confusing. Edited November 15, 2021 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 I am curious about how many here actually saw/heard Coltrane in person. I heard the "classic quartet" at the Plugged Nickel twice (multiple nights each time), the augmented quartet with Archie Shepp at the Down Beat festival and finally the group with Alice and Mr Sanders at the Nickel again. I think personal experience colors impressions. I would welcome recollections of any live performances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 30 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said: I am curious about how many here actually saw/heard Coltrane in person. I heard the "classic quartet" at the Plugged Nickel twice (multiple nights each time), the augmented quartet with Archie Shepp at the Down Beat festival and finally the group with Alice and Mr Sanders at the Nickel again. I think personal experience colors impressions. I would welcome recollections of any live performances. I saw him in Boston with 2 drummers (Elvin & Rashied) + Carlos Ward, Pharoah Sanders - raised the roof as I recall, but it's 50+ years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabshakeh Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 On 13/11/2021 at 2:42 AM, Guy Berger said: It’s great, but I like Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions more. Wish we had even more recordings. Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caravan Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 4 hours ago, jlhoots said: I saw him in Boston with 2 drummers (Elvin & Rashied) + Carlos Ward, Pharoah Sanders - raised the roof as I recall, but it's 50+ years ago. Saw the Quartet, August 1, 1965 at the Comblain-la-Tour festival in Belgium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 Saw the quartet in Montreal in '64 or '65. I was sitting on Elvin's side of the stage and I only heard Jimmy when he soloed. I was writing a jazz column for the McGill daily and might be able to find my review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 11 hours ago, Rabshakeh said: Ditto. I still don't quite understand what happened to all the other 1967 Impulse sessions. Are they presumed lost in the fire? Why was Stellar Regions not lost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 (edited) I was too young to see Coltrane live, alas. I'd heard of him, having lived in Philly from '53 to '66 though ages 2 to 11. Bertrand, what do you feel is "missing" as far as tapes from '67? Edited November 15, 2021 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 I got called into a spirited debate between two lab-band-clowns to give my opinion on whether or not that was Alice or McCoy on this record because "Alice couldn't possibly play like that. Trane had had enough of her incompetence and called McCoy back for this record." Seriously. In some circles, Alice Coltrane is the jazz-villain equivalent of Yoko Ono. You want to know what that's about, well, if you have to ask.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 17 minutes ago, jazzbo said: Bertrand, what do you feel is "missing" as far as tapes from '67? John Coltrane Quintet John Coltrane, tenor sax; Alice Coltrane, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Rashied Ali, drums; Marion Brown, bells. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 27, 1967 90774 E Minor Impulse! lost 90775 Half Steps - John Coltrane Quartet John Coltrane, tenor sax; Alice Coltrane, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Rashied Ali, drums. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 29, 1967 90784 Number Eight Impulse! lost 90785 Number Seven - 90786 Number Six - 90787 Number Five - 90788 Number Four - 90789 Number Two - John Coltrane Sextet Pharoah Sanders, alto sax; John Coltrane, tenor sax; Alice Coltrane, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Rashied Ali, drums; Algie DeWitt, bata drum. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, May 17, 1967 90790 None Other Impulse! lost 90791 Kaleidoscope (mistitled as Collidoscope) - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 We'll live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 18 hours ago, John L said: LSome of it is quite beautiful as well. Yes, my very first impression of it was how pretty some of it was. I'm not sure if that bode well for the whole "what if he had lived" thing, to be honest. Maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 6 minutes ago, JSngry said: Yes, my very first impression of it was how pretty some of it was. I'm not sure if that bode well for the whole "what if he had lived" thing, to be honest. Maybe? Do you think the trajectory of Archie Sheep's playing has anything to tell us about "what if he had lived"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 Nope. Not really. Shepp was making up in traditional skills that Trane had already exploded. People were talking that strings and harp and maybe voices and a populist/spiritual bent, and seriously...I don't know that being on the other side and this side at the same time is really do-able for any meaningful public duration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabshakeh Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 11 hours ago, medjuck said: Do you think the trajectory of Archie Sheep's playing has anything to tell us about "what if he had lived"? Joe Henderson's my go to comparator. Same concept though - Gradual running out of self-belief in the Concept in the mid 70s in face of dwindling critical and audience enthusiasm, then triumphant traditionalist return in the Reagan era: 'Trane plays the American Songbook, Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1981)', 'Night Trane' (GRM, 1986), etc etc. Like Henderson (and Shepp, if you like his later work) they'd probably be good records, but its not an entirely appealling thought. However, I'm not sure it's right. Coltrane's final period deepening comes at a time when free jazz is still riding high, rather than in the face of gathering indifference and bop revival in the late 70s, as with Shepp and Henderson. So, as always, it looks like he was leading the way into something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pim Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 I really love this period of Trane and would love to hear more from it. Stellar Regions is desert island material for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 Pharoah Sanders might also be an interesting trajectory for conjecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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