Just when you thought you’d heard all the vintage John Coltrane…
One again, Impulse Records has uncovered previously released music from John Coltrane. This time around, we get Coltrane back in the summer of 1961, when he had a one month stay at the Village Gate in New York. When’s the last time a jazz artist did something like that?
The band at the time consisted of Trane with Dolphy on alto sax, flute and bass clarinet, along with Reggie Workman/b, Elvin Jones/dr and McCoy Tyner/p. The sound is good to adequate, with Jones’ drums up front. Some of the songs sound like they’ve been cut off at the beginning or the end, but there are definitely complete takes of “Impressions” “Greensleeves” and “Africa”, with some of the tunes fading in or out. Nothing essential is missing, however.
As far as the performances, there are some pleasant surprises, as Dolphy’s bass clarinet bops with delight on his feature of “When Lights Are Low”, with Tyner swinging delightfully and Coltrane joyful on the soprano. Coltrane’s soprano chirps alongside Dolphy’s flute on a fluid “My Favorite Things”, and Dolphy plays both alto sax and bass clarinet on a searing “Impressions”. Tyner dominates on a “Greensleeves” that features some lilting soprano sax and bass clarinet. Most intriguing and “live” feeling is the twenty two minute opus of “Africa” as Coltrane’s tenor tears the theme apart, supported by Dolphy’s clarinet obligatos, before Workman and Jones go into a frenzied duet and then solo. Most of the songs are around 16 minutes, which made the evenings marathon endurance races for both listener and participant. The interesting feature is that this recording is about 4 months before the famed recordings of the same band at the Village Vanguard; here the band feels a bit looser and fervent.
The songs at the time must have seemed revelatory, but by today’s ears seem mainstream. The question must be asked, “have we moved musically forward since then, or have we reached stagnation?”. Or, as they say in Oklahoma, have we taken things as far as they can go?