Skip to main content

1965 John Coltrane Recordings Part Two

 Knowing that 1965 was such a transformational year for John Coltrane, the one when he evolved from his "Classic Quartet", experimenting with some of the younger, more avant-garde musicians in live settings, and in some studio sessions, I decided to post each of thirteen (became fourteen) albums on Instagram that emanated from the 1965 sessions (in recording date order). Not including some other live sessions (mainly on CD). Trane was feeling the need to change by adding other musicians. He was experimenting more than usual, and recording more. The output from 1965 was immense. The second seven records are below, with information on the recording sessions.


#8 in 1965. The Friday following the Monday Ascension session at Van Gelder's, there was a slot for Coltrane and the Quartet at the Newport Jazz Festival. Impulse recorded One Down, One Up and My Favorite Things and also Archie Shepp's afternoon set. The album New Thing at Newport was released early '66 and featured Trane's first number and four by Archie Shepp.

Four days on from the show at Newport, Coltrane had a 12 day engagement at the Village Gate in NYC. No let up !



#9 in 1965. In July Coltrane played dates in NYC and France. At the Festival International du Jazz Antibes-Juan-les-Pins the Quartet played A Love Supreme. The record hadn't been released in France yet, so on the 2nd night Trane reverted to a more recognisable setlist. I also have the 1st night concert on the Complete ALS CD boxset. During a busy August there were more jazz festivals in Belgium, Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland and Columbus OH. Also, Ravi Coltrane was born the same month. Trane was moving further into full free jazz territory and was alienating large sections of these festival audiences. On August 26th, the quartet entered RCA Victor Studios in NYC where Dearly Beloved, Attaining, Sun Ship, Ascent and Amen were recorded.

As Bob Thiele said, Trane was moving on so fast, especially in 1965, not everything in the can was released. There wasn't anything inferior, he had just moved on. Sun Ship was released in 1971, comprising takes from the Aug 26th session. Talking about his own legacy at Impulse in 1968, Thiele said he was proud that so much great Coltrane material had been recorded, and could still be released.

The incredible year of 1965 rolls on.



#10 in 1965. On Thursday September 2nd at Englewood Cliffs the Quartet laid down the suite 'Meditations'. In five parts and deeply spiritual in theme (again), Trane's latest composition didn't see the light of day until 'First Meditations' was released in 1977; at least in this version with the 'classic quartet'. At the end of November another more avant-garde version was recorded with additional musicians #pharoahsanders and #rashiedali. The later recording was released in 1966. More on that later. Again, Trane had simply moved on from the first recording.



#11 of 13 in 1965. The John Coltrane Sextet was booked to play the Penthouse in Seattle, WA from September 27th to October 2nd. At 9.30 PM on Sep 30th, the Sextet were live on the radio station KING. Simultaneously, local recording engineer Jan Kurtis taped both sets. The Penthouse pre-advertising said Sextet, so it was planned to have #pharoahsanders and #donaldgarrett participate. By now, cracks were appearing in the 'classic quartet'.



#12 in '65. The day after the Live in Seattle recording, the Sextet plus Joe Brazil travelled to Lynnwood WA to the studio of Jan Kurtis Skugstad. Jan recorded the previous night's performance and persuaded Trane to record at his studio the next day (Camelot Sound Studios). Jan had a decent studio and setup, and the Sextet felt pretty comfortable there. In fact, some would say too comfortable. Om in Hindi is a sacred sound and represents the ultimate spirit and consciousness. Great recording by Jan, one take only and was split into two parts when the album was released in early 1968. Even Bob Thiele's amulet gets a credit on the gatefold .....hah



#13 of now 14 in '65. Nearly missed one out. After the Om session it was off to the It Club in LA for an 11 day residency. During the residency, on the 14th at Western Recorders, Kulu Se Mama (discussed in post #5 earlier) and Selflessness were laid down. Released in 1969 with two live tracks from 1963, Selflessness is another less lauded Trane album, but GR8.



#14 of 14. Following some more club residencies where Trane presented sextet, septet and octet groups, it was back to Van Gelder's Englewood Ciffs studio on 23rd November. Pharoah Sanders on the front line and Rashied Ali doubling up on drums, Trane re-recorded his Meditations suite. A new track, The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost (as originally written) was also recorded. It seemed this was specifically written with Sanders in mind, playing to his strengths and in the direction Trane was heading. It also seemed that Ali's looser rhythmic style was becoming more appropriate for this direction. It would be the last recording session with Jones and Tyner.

The album Meditations would be released during Tranes' lifetime - the more avant-garde of the two 1965 versions.

Part One can be found here

Ref : The John Coltrane Reference, Chris DeVito et al. Other sources.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pharoah Sanders' Philosophical Conversation - July 1967

In the July 1967 issue of Canada's Coda Magazine, Pharaoh Sanders held a long conversation with Elisabeth van der Mei. The feature starts out with the comment "You play so good you made me forget about Trane", and ends with Pharoah saying Coltrane wouldn't have got to where he is now without listening to others. The feature talks about playing in Trane's group and the dynamics between the musicians, how he (and Trane) had dropped playing over chord changes and the concept of time was now radically different. He preferred playing with just Rashied Ali for this very reason. Making 8 or 9 notes out of 2 by putting them through the horn in different ways; And to achieve what he could, you needed ability, control and emotion. Poignant given the issue date, the same month of Trane's death, this is a really insightful interview with Pharoah just as he was ending one phase in his career, before taking his deeply felt spirituality into a new phase. pharoah sanders ...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Coltrane's Only British Tour in 1961

Britain’s Musicians' Union found the 1950s difficult, with the rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the growth of outside musicians coming to play in Britain. By the early 60s an agreement had been reached with the US that an equivalent number of touring American and British musicians could play in each country. Most headline US Jazz artists up to that point had used local musicians, and the live exposure to ‘modern’ Jazz artists was limited. Through the 60s and beyond, Britain was still problematic for outside artists due to the (then) power of the MU. Having said that, the MU was sometimes a force for good. For example, in 1961 the MU boycotted the entire Mecca Circuit for the Bradford Mecca Locarno’s policy of refusing admission to single black males. Norman Granz had been running JATP European tours since 1952, featuring top US jazz artists. Earlier in 1960 Miles Davis had visited Britain, so it missed out on Miles' famous JATP tour of Europe with Trane later in 1960. Granz organised...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ornette Coleman and Sweden's Golden Circle Club

Ornette Coleman's trio famously recorded over two nights, during a two week stint at Stockholm's Golden Circle (Gyllene Cirkeln) Club in December 1965. Francis Wolff of Blue Note flew to Sweden to supervise and produce the recording, using Rune Andreasson, a local recording engineer. The resulting two albums "At The Golden Circle" vols one and two became Blue Note classic albums. The Golden Circle Club was b ased, from 1962 in the ABF-Huset building, a progressive community building built in 1961 in the centre of Stockholm. Over its seven year life the club hosted many US jazz musicians. Due to its welcoming attitude to foreign musicians, Sweden became home (at times) to jazz musicians such as Sahib Shahib, George Russell, Albert Ayler, Steve Kuhn, Red Mitchell and Don Cherry. See also :  The New Jazz Musings - Albert Ayler in Sweden The Club was on the 1st Floor (unchanged inside) Gyllene Cirkeln Wall Display Original Golden Spiral Staircase Entran...
Post a Comment
Read more