JOHN COLTRANE - A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle
Impulse!
John Coltrane (tenor saxophone, percussion); McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); Elvin Jones (drums); Pharoah Sanders (tenor saxophone, percussion); Carlos Ward (alto saxophone); Donal Rafael Garrett (bass)
Recorded 2nd October, 1965
This astonishing recording from the archives of Coltrane playing 'A Love Supreme' live at a small club in Seattle has the power to shock. Indeed, many will be shocked, elated and even dismayed at the music presented here as the recording makes us stop and reassess everything we thought we knew about Trane's 1964 masterpiece.
History tells us that the saxophonist rarely played 'A Love Supreme' after the famous recording session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in December 1964. There are three occasions known where Coltrane played the entire suite live, the first at the Antibes Jazz Festival, France in July 1965 and again a year later at a church in Brooklyn as part of a fundraiser event, and now this performance in Seattle, although there is now conjecture whether the music was played more often at engagements that have gone undocumented. . With two out of three known performances being recorded, the concert at the Antibes Festival was later released and long believed to be the only 'alternate' version of the piece. That is until this historic document was discovered in the private collection of Joe Brazil that had been recorded on the club's in-house recording system. Brazil had kept hold of the tapes, playing them only for a chosen few, and it was only after Brazil's death in 2008 that the existence of the tapes was more widely known and made available for release.
However we look at it, the music here is remarkable. As well as we thought we knew how the music should go, Coltrane had other ideas, seeking to keep the music open and fluid. This was proven in the recording at Antibes a few months earlier with the quartet, but with Coltrane eager at this time to expand the group had by the time of this recording invited fellow saxophonist, Pharoah Sanders to join him, along with a second bassist in Donald Rafael Garrett. Also guesting with the band on this occasion was altoist, Carlos Ward expanding the line up to a septet.
Throughout the seventy five minute performance the themes we know so well are intact, or disguised very little from the original but the solos are something else again. Coltrane as one would expect is totally in command of proceedings, and his unmistakable steely tone on the saxophone is discernible even at its wildest. On the long 'Pt I - Acknowledgement' Trane looks to push himself and the rhythm section as far as possible. It is the entry of Sanders for his solo following the leader that stirs things up, with split tones and mutliphonics driving his solo relentlessly. Coltrane returns for a second solo which brings things down to earth again, and although he is pushing in a new direction there is always the sense that he is looking to keep one foot firmly in his past, and refusing to jettison a predetermined form completely.
The four parts of the suite are linked by interludes that serve as moments for musicians and audience to catch their breath in preparation for what was to follow. 'Interlude 1' captures a fascinating bass dialogue between Garret and Garrison before Elvin Jones enters to steer the music towards the introduction of 'Pt II- Resolution' that after the theme is stated by Coltrane is taken up by Carlos Ward in a solo that is quite disarming in as much it was so unexpected to hear the lighter sound of the alto saxophone within this particular composition. Making a decent fist of his solo Ward can be justly proud of his contribution here.
'Interlude 2' is a feature for Elvin Jones who powerful presence is key throughout the performance. In a superb solo Jones' maintain interest through his solo leading us into a dramatic 'Pt III- Pursuance'. Coltrane plays the theme statement in a blistering onslaught of the familiar, and the intensity is retained by Sanders who solos, accompanied by bass and drums, before the reigns are picked up by McCoy Tyner for a long flowing solo. Tyner is in his element here, and at his most comfortable of the whole set. The music here speaks his language, and he makes the most of it in a solo that is at one with what has gone before, yet also at odds offering the listener a window of relief and release from the tension previously built up.
Both 'Interlude 3' and '4' are given over to Jimmy Garrison's absorbing and swinging bass solo, perhaps taking his cue from McCoy. The bassist's use of single note lines and chordal passages keeps the improvisation moving despite a brief interruption when the tape reel ran out.
The suite concludes with 'Pt IV - Psalm' in which Coltrane does not follow the original recorded version by reciting the entire poem, but rather takes the text as a starting point for further elaboration as if improvising a further narrative as a continuation of the original text. This is a broiling performance over the bowed basses of Garrison and Garrison and Jones' intense commentary using mallets, and Tyner's superb accompaniment.
In a performance that is twice as long as the studio version recorded in Van Gelder's studio, this recording shows how far the quartet had come, and how Coltrane was seeking new avenues of expression. There are times when the Garrsion, Tyner and Jones are feeling the music yet at other moments one can sense that they are uncomfortable in the direction that the music is being taken. This can be felt perhaps most strongly in McCoy's solos on 'Pursuance' and in Jimmy Garrison's solo on his features 'Interlude' which suggest unrest in the band. Coltrane would pursue his new chosen path in the time he had left to him, leaving behind the classic quartet, and some of his followers, to form new allegiances and musical partnerships.
Knowing what was to follow makes this an important addition to Coltrane's extensive discography, and also fills in the story of the transition in the saxophonist's thinking in moving into new musical territory that would ultimately and imminently see the demise of one the greatest quartets in the music's history.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Impulse!
John Coltrane (tenor saxophone, percussion); McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); Elvin Jones (drums); Pharoah Sanders (tenor saxophone, percussion); Carlos Ward (alto saxophone); Donal Rafael Garrett (bass)
Recorded 2nd October, 1965
This astonishing recording from the archives of Coltrane playing 'A Love Supreme' live at a small club in Seattle has the power to shock. Indeed, many will be shocked, elated and even dismayed at the music presented here as the recording makes us stop and reassess everything we thought we knew about Trane's 1964 masterpiece.
History tells us that the saxophonist rarely played 'A Love Supreme' after the famous recording session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in December 1964. There are three occasions known where Coltrane played the entire suite live, the first at the Antibes Jazz Festival, France in July 1965 and again a year later at a church in Brooklyn as part of a fundraiser event, and now this performance in Seattle, although there is now conjecture whether the music was played more often at engagements that have gone undocumented. . With two out of three known performances being recorded, the concert at the Antibes Festival was later released and long believed to be the only 'alternate' version of the piece. That is until this historic document was discovered in the private collection of Joe Brazil that had been recorded on the club's in-house recording system. Brazil had kept hold of the tapes, playing them only for a chosen few, and it was only after Brazil's death in 2008 that the existence of the tapes was more widely known and made available for release.
However we look at it, the music here is remarkable. As well as we thought we knew how the music should go, Coltrane had other ideas, seeking to keep the music open and fluid. This was proven in the recording at Antibes a few months earlier with the quartet, but with Coltrane eager at this time to expand the group had by the time of this recording invited fellow saxophonist, Pharoah Sanders to join him, along with a second bassist in Donald Rafael Garrett. Also guesting with the band on this occasion was altoist, Carlos Ward expanding the line up to a septet.
Throughout the seventy five minute performance the themes we know so well are intact, or disguised very little from the original but the solos are something else again. Coltrane as one would expect is totally in command of proceedings, and his unmistakable steely tone on the saxophone is discernible even at its wildest. On the long 'Pt I - Acknowledgement' Trane looks to push himself and the rhythm section as far as possible. It is the entry of Sanders for his solo following the leader that stirs things up, with split tones and mutliphonics driving his solo relentlessly. Coltrane returns for a second solo which brings things down to earth again, and although he is pushing in a new direction there is always the sense that he is looking to keep one foot firmly in his past, and refusing to jettison a predetermined form completely.
The four parts of the suite are linked by interludes that serve as moments for musicians and audience to catch their breath in preparation for what was to follow. 'Interlude 1' captures a fascinating bass dialogue between Garret and Garrison before Elvin Jones enters to steer the music towards the introduction of 'Pt II- Resolution' that after the theme is stated by Coltrane is taken up by Carlos Ward in a solo that is quite disarming in as much it was so unexpected to hear the lighter sound of the alto saxophone within this particular composition. Making a decent fist of his solo Ward can be justly proud of his contribution here.
'Interlude 2' is a feature for Elvin Jones who powerful presence is key throughout the performance. In a superb solo Jones' maintain interest through his solo leading us into a dramatic 'Pt III- Pursuance'. Coltrane plays the theme statement in a blistering onslaught of the familiar, and the intensity is retained by Sanders who solos, accompanied by bass and drums, before the reigns are picked up by McCoy Tyner for a long flowing solo. Tyner is in his element here, and at his most comfortable of the whole set. The music here speaks his language, and he makes the most of it in a solo that is at one with what has gone before, yet also at odds offering the listener a window of relief and release from the tension previously built up.
Both 'Interlude 3' and '4' are given over to Jimmy Garrison's absorbing and swinging bass solo, perhaps taking his cue from McCoy. The bassist's use of single note lines and chordal passages keeps the improvisation moving despite a brief interruption when the tape reel ran out.
The suite concludes with 'Pt IV - Psalm' in which Coltrane does not follow the original recorded version by reciting the entire poem, but rather takes the text as a starting point for further elaboration as if improvising a further narrative as a continuation of the original text. This is a broiling performance over the bowed basses of Garrison and Garrison and Jones' intense commentary using mallets, and Tyner's superb accompaniment.
In a performance that is twice as long as the studio version recorded in Van Gelder's studio, this recording shows how far the quartet had come, and how Coltrane was seeking new avenues of expression. There are times when the Garrsion, Tyner and Jones are feeling the music yet at other moments one can sense that they are uncomfortable in the direction that the music is being taken. This can be felt perhaps most strongly in McCoy's solos on 'Pursuance' and in Jimmy Garrison's solo on his features 'Interlude' which suggest unrest in the band. Coltrane would pursue his new chosen path in the time he had left to him, leaving behind the classic quartet, and some of his followers, to form new allegiances and musical partnerships.
Knowing what was to follow makes this an important addition to Coltrane's extensive discography, and also fills in the story of the transition in the saxophonist's thinking in moving into new musical territory that would ultimately and imminently see the demise of one the greatest quartets in the music's history.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
