The New Jazz Musings

O n March 6 th 1963 the John Coltrane Quartet recorded a session at Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs NJ. In 1966, Impulse released their third volume of previously unreleased tracks from various artists (The Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3, Impulse AS-9101). It included a version of Vilia recorded at that March 6 th session. Both Direction at Once : The Lost Album (2018) Some time after this LP release the original master tapes of the March 6 th session were lost or discarded. However, as was the usual practice for Coltrane, Van Gelder recorded a ¼ inch, 7.5ips mono tape for him to listen to at home. It was this tape that was the source for Both Directions at Once : The Lost Album, issued earlier this year. In 1962 and 1963 Bob Thiele of Impulse persuaded Coltrane to issue albums with more accessible music, complementing his more adventurous material. Thiele had been concerned about the negative press Trane had been receiving from some critics, a...

P rior to becoming not the double, nor the alter ego, but the partner of John Coltrane, Farrell Sanders played blues and rock 'n roll before moving to NYC. Destitute and living rough, he was helped and encouraged by Sun Ra until he got a place in his Arkestra. Perhaps Pharoah Sanders’ past designated him as an ideal companion for the one who wanted to attain the Universal Sound, understand the Cosmos and perhaps even the Inner Cosmos. Coltrane and Sanders had met several times, Pharoah seizing every opportunity to come and listen to his elder (fourteen years separated them). It was in September 1965, at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, that things were decided: "John Coltrane told me that he was rethinking changes in the group and asked me to play with him”, said Sanders, who will remain with Trane until his untimely death. Although capable of playing tonal and bebop as evidenced by many of his performances and albums, Sanders especially pleased Coltrane by ...

For weeks Archie Shepp had been trying to get in touch with Bob Thiele at Impulse Records. A family man living on meagre cash in hand, he had harassed Impulse's offices with phone calls: "I phoned from the pharmacy at the bottom of my building and, with ten cents a call, I spent a dollar a day trying to reach Bob. Each time, Lillian his secretary answered that he had gone to lunch, or gone home". One night, Shepp sat in with John Coltrane at the Half Note and got up enough courage to ask if he would intercede with Thiele. After some hesitation and suggesting that "a lot of people think I'm easy", he agreed. The next day Bob Thiele is out again, but his secretary tells Shepp that her boss is waiting for his phone call. When they finally talk to each other, the producer sets his conditions. It will be an album of John Coltrane's compositions in tribute form. "I had a reputation for being a strong leader, with already very decided ideas, and he pro...