The New Jazz Musings

Britain's Jazz Journal from August 1962 paints a typical picture of the Jazz scene in the early 1960s. The 'New Thing' is being discussed in typical polar opposites to more traditional music. Interestingly, the references are not just Jazz. Igor Stravinsky talks about the opposition to his New York period music. There is also a partly balancing piece by Steve Voce on (more traditional) jazz critic Benny Green's dislike of Ornette Coleman. Steve Voce is a big supporter of e.g. John Coltrane during this period, as I've seen in other journals from the early 60s. There is also a very dismissive record review of Ornette Coleman's, amongst generally positive reviews of contemporary artists such as Ahmad Jamal, Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Ike Quebec and Hank Mobley. Lastly, there is the letter below from Wellington Holliday, who accosted John Coltrane side-stage during the JATP appearance at Glasgow's St Andrews Halls in late 1961. He says he is compelled to writ...

This is an iconic Coltrane cover from Britain's Jazz Journal, however, where's Coltrane inside ? The December 1961 issue had the annual Jazz Record of The Year poll feature. Coltrane was 18th in the top twenty Jazz records of the year with Giant Steps. Demonstrating where Jazz still was in 1961, Billie Holiday topped the poll with a re-issue, and Pee Wee Russell was 2nd. Nineteen critics provided their top ten records of the year, with a few having Coltrane mid-table. Steve Voce had Trane one and two, Giant Steps and Coltrane Jazz. Africa/Brass hadn't yet been released in Britain (more of that below), unlike e.g. France that had it on the Vega label (IMP 3). Modern Record of the Year was one of six categories, with Giant Steps coming third in the category. Critic Steve Voce, in his two page column, talked about Coltrane's 1961 visit to Britain, and explained a little bit why Impulse records were late to hit the market in Britain. I've noticed this trend, even...