The John Coltrane Quintet featuring Eric Dolphy
A sequel to Miles Davis and John Coltrane "All Of You: The Last Tour 1960
"There are so many things to be considered in making music", John Coltrane told an interviewer during his first European tour as a bandleader in the autumn of 1961. "Many things on which I don't think I've reached a final conclusion."
Indeed, the music Coltrane
made on this trip took audiences to the very cutting edge, leaving many
questions unanswered, even for the saxophonists most ardent fans. For
some he had taken the fundamentals of modern jazz to breaking point,
thrusting it into "the realms of higher mathematics", as one bewildered journalist put it.
To others, Coltrane
was the voice of progress, bravely reasserting the exploratory nature
of jazz, daring to push his core repertoire through a process of
continual reinvention, taking himself, his fellow players and those who
flocked to hear him on an impassioned journey of discovery, night after
night. Coltrane's performances were now akin to opening Pandora's Box. "There are all sorts of moods involved", wrote one partisan jazz writer of the tenorists playing during the tour: "deep power...warmth...gracefulness...so many things."
The impact of Coltrane and his regular quartet sidemen - pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones - was made doubly controversial by the leaders last-minute decision to add the formidable multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, a musician who Coltrane regarded as a true kindred spirit but whose introduction the European audiences was to prove equally divisive.
Playing
over 30 concert appearances in under three weeks, the band
criss-crossed the continent from France to Finland, taking its message
to far larger crowds than could be squeezed into its club sets back in
the US.
These
recordings have since acquired almost legendary status and have
previously only been available in sporadic fashion, but for the first
time ever, this new release collates tapes made by the quintet in Paris,
Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm, creating a truly sundering
anthology of this short-lived band at its peak.
Newly remastered for optimum sound quality, along with examples of Coltrane's landmark compositions Naima and Impressions, this collection also includes the saxophonists only recording of Victor Young's theme Delilah and, as a bonus, a stunning rare "second house" performance of Coltrane's transformational anthem My Favourite Things taped in Stockholm.
This
release features photographs, concert memorabilia and press clippings,
and comes complete with an extensive booklet essay by award-winning
British saxophonist and writer Simon Spillett.
John Coltrane (tenor and soprano sax)
Eric Dolphy (alto sax, bass clarinet, flute)
McCoy Tyner (piano)
Reggie Workman (bass)
Elvin Jones (drums)
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Hi-Res Cover Art: http://mvdb2b.com/i/300dpi/ACQCD7085.jpg
CD 1:
L'Olympia, Paris, November 18th 1961 (First House)
1. Blue Train (Coltrane)
2. I Want To Talk About You (Eckstine)
3. Impressions (Coltrane)
4. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
L'Olympia, Paris, November 18th 1961 (Second House)
5. I Want To Talk About You (Eckstine)
6. Blue Train (Coltrane)
CD 2:
L'Olympia, Paris, November 18th 1961 (Second House, cont.)
1. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
Falkconercentret, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 20th 1961
2. Announcement
3. Delilah (Young)
4. Everytime We Say Goodbye (Porter)
5. Impressions (Coltrane)
6. Naima (Coltrane)
CD 3:
Falkonercentret, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 20th 1961 (cont.)
1. My Favourite Things (false starts)
2. Announcement by John Coltrane
3. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland, November 22nd 1961 (Second House)
4. Blue Train (Coltrane)
5. I Want To Talk About You (Eckstine)
6. Impressions (Coltrane)
7. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
CD 4:
Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, November 23rd 1961 (First House)
1. Blue Train (Coltrane)
2. Naima (Coltrane)
3. Impressions (Coltrane)
4. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, November 23rd 1961 (Second House)
4. My Favourite Things (Rodgers, Hammerstein)
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