Posted on 10/22/2021 9:49:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The studio version has long been recognized as the jazz saxophonist’s masterwork. But a recently unearthed live recording is nothing short of a revelation.
ltrane stood apart for his indifference to the scene. While Miles Davis socialized with Harry Belafonte and Marlon Brando at uptown galas, and the pianist Cecil Taylor and Coleman mingled with bohemian painters and poets on the Lower East Side, Coltrane lived with his family in the middle-class suburb of Dix Hills, Long Island, and kept to himself. He projected selfless dedication, purpose, and—as the alto saxophonist Darius Jones recently put it to me—“service.”
Service—or, more precisely, spiritual commitment—was the ethos that permeated much of Coltrane’s music and, above all, his devotional suite A Love Supreme, recorded in December 1964 at the New Jersey studio of Rudy Van Gelder with his classic quartet—McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. A Love Supreme was at once the culmination of Coltrane’s modal period and an announcement of his decision to pursue music as a quest for spiritual enlightenment. He composed the score in September 1964, shortly after the birth of his first son, John Jr., and only a few months after the death of his close friend Eric Dolphy, who had accompanied him on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute on some of his finest sessions in the early Sixties. According to John’s widow, the pianist Alice Coltrane, he locked himself in a room for five days, and then, “like Moses coming down from the mountain,” declared that he had “received all the music” for A Love Supreme. Bob Thiele, his producer, was not happy about Coltrane’s desire to record a long-form original composition, but this somber and austere thirty-three-minute suite in four movements became the most popular record of his career, surpassing
(Excerpt) Read more at nybooks.com ...
It’s on several of my playlists.
I’d love to find this live version.
You can buy iy in different formats too.
I see “A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle” was released on vinyl today. I’ll be picking up a copy.
My favorite is “Ballads”.
Let us know what you think.
August of 1965, I had the pleasure of seeing him perform at Pep’s Lounge in Philadelphia. I went to the matinee and stayed for both sets.
I was about to finally leave and Coltrane came out from the behind the curtain, playing “Afro Blue”. Told the bartender to give me another Old Hickory and Ginger Ale. You see, I was only 20 at this time, so I found that if I dressed to the nines, I could get into the jazz places without a problem. But I had to get by the bartender. Hence, I ordered “Old Hickory” and was never carded.
Their performance was out standing. Watching Elvin Jones on the drums with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and never missing a cue from McCoy or John. Jimmy Garrison, in a trance on the bass, Coltrane, nothing but business.
Those were the good old days. Damn, who would have thought we would be in this mess now.
Oh Man.... “I want to talk about you”, stops me in my tracks. Another piece, “After the Rain”, very mellow.
Harry Bosch named the dog he rescued, “Coltrane”.
My first thought. Plus, Bosch and his daughter would play “guess the musician”. He loved his jazz.
Was watching a Miles David documentary last night, I didn’t know Coltrane sort of came into his own on Kind of Blue. Maybe it’s not entirely accurate since he was obviously extremely talented if Miles would let him in the band, but according to the documentary the music for the album (perhaps the best selling jazz album of all time) was never formally written out, Miles just sketched the broad strokes and let the musicians go free to play through it. Was an interesting tidbit.
My favorite jazz album is "Street Life" by The Crusaders. Some might consider that an odd choice and not quite up there with the works of Coltrane and Miles Davis, etc., but it was a big hit in the fall of 1979 and reminds me of my first girlfriend.
Well the bright side is there are whole universes of music to listen to. I am only dabbling in jazz over the last few years and look forward to learning more. Though in my youth I think the first time I really tried to listen to Jazz (other than big band stuff we all heard over our lives) was also Miles Davis’ Pangaea. And Bitches Brew. For rock and roll guys those are worth it. There’s even a song called “John McLaughlin” LOL.
And whenever I get on a plane and we start to taxi I stick on my headphones and play Beethoven’s Piano Conerto #8 - Moonlight Sonata. Another universe of music to learn more about.
Opera, maybe in another decade or two if I have the time.
That one was the first famous opera and set the standard for what would come later. I also think it's very accessible to the beginner.
The libretto is fairly simple and boils down to "girl gets fatally bitten by snake and guy screws up his one chance to get her back."
Music is majestic however, even if you don't understand what they area singing about. Highly recommended.
Yes, Miles had some great musicians in his band and he gave them the latitude to branch out. Anything with Red Garland on the piano, has my attention. Red went on to play with early Coltrane. Loved the Big Blocked Chords of Red.
When Coltrane went “Outside” with his music, it confused plenty of people. I for one, loved it, and became a big fan of Pharoah Sanders. Till this day, there is a woman that will not speak to me because of Pharoah. We went to see him and she couldn’t get into his music and wanted to leave. I told her to catch a cab. So be it! Pharoah, went “Outside” and never came back in. He can be very mellow, listen to the cut, “Let us go into the house of the Lord”, Cecil McBee on the bass, keeps it all together.
My first boat was named, “Pharoah’s Journey”.
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