As Sonny Rollins states in the liner notes, “This is like finding a new room in the Great Pyramid.”
This two disc set finds completely hidden tracks from a “lost” album that John Coltrane and his classic quartet of McCoy Tyner/p, Elvin Jones/dr and Jimmy Garrison/b recorded back in March 6, 1963. To put it into time perspective, it was the same time (to the exact day?) of his album Crescent, his Live at Birdland recording (from a gig that night) and the day before his seminal meeting with Johnny Hartman. Not exactly a nadir of creativity, eh, with these recordings catching him halfway between his seminal Village Vanguard and Love Supreme albums.
There are a couple different “Untitled Originals,” a single “Slow Blues,” a pair of the standards “Nature Boy” and “Vilia,” a handful of variations of “Impressions” and two takes of “One Up, One Down.” Chronologically, it’s interesting to see Coltrane still toying around with “Impressions” at this stage in his career, while “One Up, One Down,” didn’t see the light of day until a ’65 recording of it surfaced a number of years ago.’
Musically, this is a feast for the ears, with ‘Trane and company working out the themes and variations with excitement and inspiration. The longest piece at over 11 minutes, “Slow Blues” has a hip R&B solo by Tyner as well as giving Garrison a chance to take the spotlight.
Of the untitled pieces “11383” has Coltrane on soprano sax and the team in a hip bluesy modal mood. There are three versions of “11386”; “Take 1” simmers with an “Africa Brass” pulse provided by Jones, “Take 2” has an even more exotic tone, and “Take 5” has Jones introducing the piece with an alluring pattern. Of the standards, “Nature Boy” includes a lurking bass line underneath Coltrane’s somber tenor on the pianoless take, and the bouncy “Vilia” has Coltrane on a warm and lyrical tenor as well as a sweet soprano on the two takes. The team sounds urgent bordering on frantic during the first “One Up, One Down” and more peppy for the second.
Most intriguing are the variations of “Impressions.” Tyner sits out on “Take 3” for a mid tempo rumble with the same setup on “Take 4” much looser and free.” In a quartet setting, the band feels more deliberate while the team snaps to attention on “Take 1.” Ironically, these takes sat on the shelves as Coltrane eventually chose the 1961 Village Vanguard concert recording for his choice for his title track of that album. Nevertheless, there was enough material here to qualify for an album, as all throughout the session, Coltrane is in a strong, warm and melodic mood, Tyner is filled with searching chords, Garrison is darkly lurking and Jones is creating minor avalanches of energy. This is a session that makes you wonder 1) why was this hidden for so long, as well as 2) what else are we missing?
At least we have this, and it’s a lot to have!