The New Jazz Musings

In my search for articles I'm finding that quite a few are articulate, intelligent, incredibly insightful and interesting. None more so than this 1971 piece by Barry McRae, published in the Jazz Journal. McRae writes about John Coltrane - The Impulse Years, but expands further outside for perspective and his contemporary position during the 1960s. I've noticed some earlier British articles on Trane miss out versus US journals because it was more difficult to get all the albums. Here however, McRae references not just Trane's Impulse output, but also that of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. John Coltrane - The Impulse Years by Barry McRae That jazz has moved forward in both spiritual as well as a musical sense in the sixties is an obvious fact. Preoccupation with aesthetic values has sometimes obscured the total evolutionary picture, however, and a great number of words has been dissipated on the significance of the music rather than its style and format. The early free f...

J azz Journal in September 1967 published an article on John Coltrane by Barry McRae. It was #9 in a journal series - Column for The Newcomer to Jazz. Presumably Coltrane was chosen because he had passed away the month before the article was written. I haven't seen the August issue, but it doesn't appear to highlight a John Coltrane feature, so I’m not sure if it had anything more substantial. But if not, this presumably is his Jazz Journal obituary. "As the face of jazz changed in the ‘fifties, certain players emerged as the dominant voices. Men such as Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman became central figures in a jazz world that more than ever before was fighting for its economic survival. Saxophonist Coltrane was perhaps the most fortunate, for his period under the Miles Davis aegis gave him both the financial security and the fame to support his later ventures as a combo leader. John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carol...

The Jazz Composers Guild Following a series of Avant-Garde jazz concerts at NYC's Cellar Cafe (The October Revolution) in 1964, trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon sought to improve the working conditions of Jazz musicians, whom he felt were being exploited by venues and record labels. Further discussions, initially with Cecil Taylor, led to the creation of the Jazz Composers Guild in 1965. Members included Bill Dixon, Sun Ra, Paul Bley, Roswell Rudd, Carla Bley, Mike Mantler, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai and Archie Shepp. Ascension Recording. Archie Shepp (Left) During its short run, the Jazz Composers Guild experienced tension with other political groups including with Amiri Baraka. Bill Dixon faced defending the Guild due to its inclusion of white musicians. He agreed that white musicians were treated better, but not by much. Ascension Recording. John Tchicai (Centre) John Coltrane's Ascension recording in 1965 included members of the Guild, Archie Shepp and...