The New Jazz Musings

Bob Thiele Loved Getting His Photo On Impulse Gatefolds For the May 1968 issue of Canada’s CODA Magazine, Frank Kofsky sat down with Bob Thiele of ABC/Impulse Records to talk about John Coltrane. This May ’68 issue became a Memorial for Coltrane featuring the Kofsky interview (eight pages), a Late Trane retrospective, a discography and an extensive Visual Essay from photographer Joe Alper. The editorial mentioned the desire to present a visual rather than a literary viewpoint of ‘the man and his music, for the camera caught much of the strength and passions of the man’. Frank Kofsky was a writer and an academic, penning several books, many articles and record liner notes. An avowed Marxist, he became a champion of Avant-Garde black music in the 1960s. In late 1966 Kofsky held, what is likely, the most insightful interview with Trane. Insights from the interview with Thiele have already been quoted elsewhere. What’s interesting is the new information it contains (for me), plus the corre...

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 Directions at Once : The Lost Album 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, and wanted to prov...