JOHN COLTRANE - The Atlantic Years-In Mono
Atlantic Records (6CD set)
Giant Steps - John Coltrane (tenor); Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Lex Humphries (drums)
Recorded 4/5 May & 2 December 1959
Bags & Trane - John Coltane (tenor); Milt Jackson (vibes); Hank Jone (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Connie Kay (drums)
Recorded Janiuary 15, 1959
Olé Coltrane - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano) George Lane (aka Eric Dolphy - flute & alto) Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Reggie Workman, Art Davis (bass); Elvin Jones (drums)
Recorded May 25, 1060
Coltrane Plays the Blues - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); McCoy Tyner (piano); Steve Davis (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
Recorded October 24, 1960
The Avant-Garde with Don Cherry - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); Don Cherry (co-leader, trumpet), Charlie Haden, Percy Heath (bass); Ed Blackwell (drums)
Recorded June 28 & July 8, 1960
The Coltrane Legacy - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); Eric Dolphy (flute) Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Steve Davis (bass) Elvin Jones (drums); Milt Jackson (vibes); Hank Jone (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Connie Kay (drums)
Recorded October 24 & 26, 1960; My 25, 1961 & January 15, 1960
This review must ask two questions: is the ‘mono’ edition a merit in its own right; is this ‘Atlantic’ series of albums of significance to old and new listeners? (- ok, I know the latter was two questions …)
Having listened to selections from this unfussy and robust box set on a range of systems, I can recommend the clarity of sound and directness of the bass on the joyous ‘Blues To You’, for instance, whilst I missed the spacial awareness of stereo, and found the piano EQ/signal somewhat jangly – typical for the time. It also eliminates the option of ‘re-mastered for stereo’, mostly a crime, and a ruination of many a natural EQ recording.
Back in the day, it was common that mono and stereo releases ran concurrently. Stereo was the new big thing …and as with any novel technology didn’t secure a good outcome automatically. Many listeners still had mono systems – often the more portable and basic ones – and this is the nub of the retro atmosphere surrounding these recordings. They are for the old lag like me, but for the hipster, too.
Musically these albums are not the product of quite the overarching vision that Ben Ratliff’s book ‘Coltrane’ would have us believe. Yes, Atlantic’s Nesuhi Ertegun may have had a vision, but Coltrane was doggedly working through the processes presenting themselves to him at this significant ‘interim’ period of his oeuvre – sometimes to sublime effect (Niama, Giant Steps, The Blessing), and the not so sublime (Stairway to The Stars, Dahomey Dance). And these discs are the outcome of a wave of recordings made in and out of contract – the omission being the classic My Favourite Things which is not included as the original mono recording were lost in a fire, in a remarkably creative burst of activity.
What is deeply present to anyone who appreciates John Coltrane to be amongst the greatest of all musicians, is the utter sincerity and force of each step in his transcendent journey.
These six discs were recorded over the two years that saw Coltrane produce his great work with Miles on ‘Kind Of Blue’, and come to a turning point with his own definitive ‘Giant Steps’ [Disc 1]. This is a bridging period marked by the big questions still open like a wound after Parker’s death in ’55, and coursing through the veins of the whole community of truly creative artists from Monk, Rollins, Ornette and Shorter, to Miles and Mingus.
The box set also features a genuine engagement with the great Don Cherry including the wonderful ven-diagrammatical presence of Percy Heath on most tracks [Disc 5 ‘The Avant-Garde’] – owing in compositional origins much to Monk and Rollins, and perhaps underlining that Ornette Coleman proved the better sparring partner for Don; an ongoing school-of-groove association with the members of the MJQ with Hank Jones rather than John Lewis [Disc 2 “Bags & Trane’], but most significantly, the emerging relationship that JC was forging with his ultimate partners, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Steve Davis (not to mention Reggie Workman and Art Davis). [Disc 3 ‘Ole’; disc 4 ‘Coltrane Plays The Blues’]
Coltrane is processing three fundamental issues in these recordings. The drone, the 12-bar blues, and the post-Parker exploration of compressed chord progressions. [Based around a major-third tonal-center shift] But in all three areas, his energy and focus is upon the nature of improvisation. Is it an outpouring of technique and fluid emotion, or has there to be a super-intelligence of overall design and intent?
The drone and the blues are siblings of course, but at this time the drone is being used to explore scales from the Phrygian mode of Flamenco to modes of the harmonic minor, ‘maqamat’ in the Arab world, or even a double harmonic interval, or a pentatonic series more typical of Indian Raga. These are further promoted to great effect on JC’s recently acquired soprano sax, and tracks like ‘Ole’ [Disc 3], a direction which reaches its synthesized essence in ‘My Favorite Things’ through the visionary comping of McCoy Tyner, who trail-blazes the approach of providing Gamelan/bell-like repetitions of richly-voiced clusters on extended chords. He does this to great effect, too , on ‘Mr Day’ [Disc 4], where the drone is a suspension before the resolving phrase of a 12-bar blues.
The excursions with Don Cherry are truly engaging [Disc 5], yet manage at times to serve to further illustrate that JC was on so much of a mission of his own, that he devours the structural implications of the newly structured compositions, whilst perhaps overlooking the ensemble responsiveness of the improvisations that Don Cherry offers up so eloquently.
It has to be mentioned as a final point, that in these recordings are the seeds of departure from the mainstream jazz listenership of the day, as well as Coltrane’s crowning achievement – that the saxophone enunciates syllables of devotional texts or prose in its melodic shaping and improvisations – the heart of Trane’s direction hereafter. Here too are the four note groupings in every possible inversion [criticized by Larkin as like ‘frames in a cine-film’], that are invested with such relaxed and poised joy and clarity of mind on ‘Giant Steps’ [disc 1] or ’26-2’ [disc 6]. And with Milt Jackson [disc 2] and his new quartet [disc 4] demonstrating why Trane is the deepest blues player of them all.
Hipster or Trane-acienti, you should know these recordings – and enjoy Ashley Khan’s contextual booklet - this box set is an already established part of a great artist’s work, haphazard and searching, triumphant and unsure, mainstream and experimental, and in mono, rugged and robust on any audio system.
Reviewed by Julian Nicholas
Atlantic Records (6CD set)
Giant Steps - John Coltrane (tenor); Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Lex Humphries (drums)
Recorded 4/5 May & 2 December 1959
Bags & Trane - John Coltane (tenor); Milt Jackson (vibes); Hank Jone (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Connie Kay (drums)
Recorded Janiuary 15, 1959
Olé Coltrane - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano) George Lane (aka Eric Dolphy - flute & alto) Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Reggie Workman, Art Davis (bass); Elvin Jones (drums)
Recorded May 25, 1060
Coltrane Plays the Blues - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); McCoy Tyner (piano); Steve Davis (bass) Elvin Jones (drums)
Recorded October 24, 1960
The Avant-Garde with Don Cherry - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); Don Cherry (co-leader, trumpet), Charlie Haden, Percy Heath (bass); Ed Blackwell (drums)
Recorded June 28 & July 8, 1960
The Coltrane Legacy - John Coltrane (tenor & soprano); Eric Dolphy (flute) Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Steve Davis (bass) Elvin Jones (drums); Milt Jackson (vibes); Hank Jone (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Connie Kay (drums)
Recorded October 24 & 26, 1960; My 25, 1961 & January 15, 1960
This review must ask two questions: is the ‘mono’ edition a merit in its own right; is this ‘Atlantic’ series of albums of significance to old and new listeners? (- ok, I know the latter was two questions …)
Having listened to selections from this unfussy and robust box set on a range of systems, I can recommend the clarity of sound and directness of the bass on the joyous ‘Blues To You’, for instance, whilst I missed the spacial awareness of stereo, and found the piano EQ/signal somewhat jangly – typical for the time. It also eliminates the option of ‘re-mastered for stereo’, mostly a crime, and a ruination of many a natural EQ recording.
Back in the day, it was common that mono and stereo releases ran concurrently. Stereo was the new big thing …and as with any novel technology didn’t secure a good outcome automatically. Many listeners still had mono systems – often the more portable and basic ones – and this is the nub of the retro atmosphere surrounding these recordings. They are for the old lag like me, but for the hipster, too.
Musically these albums are not the product of quite the overarching vision that Ben Ratliff’s book ‘Coltrane’ would have us believe. Yes, Atlantic’s Nesuhi Ertegun may have had a vision, but Coltrane was doggedly working through the processes presenting themselves to him at this significant ‘interim’ period of his oeuvre – sometimes to sublime effect (Niama, Giant Steps, The Blessing), and the not so sublime (Stairway to The Stars, Dahomey Dance). And these discs are the outcome of a wave of recordings made in and out of contract – the omission being the classic My Favourite Things which is not included as the original mono recording were lost in a fire, in a remarkably creative burst of activity.
What is deeply present to anyone who appreciates John Coltrane to be amongst the greatest of all musicians, is the utter sincerity and force of each step in his transcendent journey.
These six discs were recorded over the two years that saw Coltrane produce his great work with Miles on ‘Kind Of Blue’, and come to a turning point with his own definitive ‘Giant Steps’ [Disc 1]. This is a bridging period marked by the big questions still open like a wound after Parker’s death in ’55, and coursing through the veins of the whole community of truly creative artists from Monk, Rollins, Ornette and Shorter, to Miles and Mingus.
The box set also features a genuine engagement with the great Don Cherry including the wonderful ven-diagrammatical presence of Percy Heath on most tracks [Disc 5 ‘The Avant-Garde’] – owing in compositional origins much to Monk and Rollins, and perhaps underlining that Ornette Coleman proved the better sparring partner for Don; an ongoing school-of-groove association with the members of the MJQ with Hank Jones rather than John Lewis [Disc 2 “Bags & Trane’], but most significantly, the emerging relationship that JC was forging with his ultimate partners, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Steve Davis (not to mention Reggie Workman and Art Davis). [Disc 3 ‘Ole’; disc 4 ‘Coltrane Plays The Blues’]
Coltrane is processing three fundamental issues in these recordings. The drone, the 12-bar blues, and the post-Parker exploration of compressed chord progressions. [Based around a major-third tonal-center shift] But in all three areas, his energy and focus is upon the nature of improvisation. Is it an outpouring of technique and fluid emotion, or has there to be a super-intelligence of overall design and intent?
The drone and the blues are siblings of course, but at this time the drone is being used to explore scales from the Phrygian mode of Flamenco to modes of the harmonic minor, ‘maqamat’ in the Arab world, or even a double harmonic interval, or a pentatonic series more typical of Indian Raga. These are further promoted to great effect on JC’s recently acquired soprano sax, and tracks like ‘Ole’ [Disc 3], a direction which reaches its synthesized essence in ‘My Favorite Things’ through the visionary comping of McCoy Tyner, who trail-blazes the approach of providing Gamelan/bell-like repetitions of richly-voiced clusters on extended chords. He does this to great effect, too , on ‘Mr Day’ [Disc 4], where the drone is a suspension before the resolving phrase of a 12-bar blues.
The excursions with Don Cherry are truly engaging [Disc 5], yet manage at times to serve to further illustrate that JC was on so much of a mission of his own, that he devours the structural implications of the newly structured compositions, whilst perhaps overlooking the ensemble responsiveness of the improvisations that Don Cherry offers up so eloquently.
It has to be mentioned as a final point, that in these recordings are the seeds of departure from the mainstream jazz listenership of the day, as well as Coltrane’s crowning achievement – that the saxophone enunciates syllables of devotional texts or prose in its melodic shaping and improvisations – the heart of Trane’s direction hereafter. Here too are the four note groupings in every possible inversion [criticized by Larkin as like ‘frames in a cine-film’], that are invested with such relaxed and poised joy and clarity of mind on ‘Giant Steps’ [disc 1] or ’26-2’ [disc 6]. And with Milt Jackson [disc 2] and his new quartet [disc 4] demonstrating why Trane is the deepest blues player of them all.
Hipster or Trane-acienti, you should know these recordings – and enjoy Ashley Khan’s contextual booklet - this box set is an already established part of a great artist’s work, haphazard and searching, triumphant and unsure, mainstream and experimental, and in mono, rugged and robust on any audio system.
Reviewed by Julian Nicholas
