I’ve really tried to get later Coltrane his early Blue Note and Prestige stuff both as solo artist and band member is sublime but anything post Love Supreme just passes me by.
When I listen to Ascension for instance by brain tries to reasemble the fractured musical pieces into something I can recognise as a song but it’s just too much hard work. The same is true of Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman and almost all Avant Garde or Free Jazz, even Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gilespie can somtimes leave me scratching my head.
There is also a Chet Baker and Lee Konitz recording on India Navigation that’s quite easily available but ‘Harvest Time’ is a real rarity that I’d love to own. Another Pharoah rarity I’d love to own on vinyl is Ptah The el Daoud, recorded with Alice Coltrane
Alice’s playing on this record is just so beatiful this is progressive jazz at it’s very finest Turiya and Ramakrishna is about as good as Jazz music of any period can get.
I can appreciate most jazz, bebop and beyond and love a lot of the avant garde. However, I too face a challenge with Ascension. That having been said, version two of Ascension is more accessible than the version first released.
Throughout his entire career, it seems that there wasn’t a moment when Art Pepper didn’t have his back pressed up against the wall. The back-story to The Rhythm Section album is a tale worthy of a well thumbed dime store pulp novel.
Everything was stacked up against the wayward protagonist on 19 January 1957. To start with, a far from healthy Pepper not only forgot about this record date with Miles’ then rhythm section until that very morning. Yet despite eventually turning up thoroughly stoned and totally unprepared with his alto sax in even worse shape than himself, he somehow still managed to create one of his finest-ever albums. Despite his unfamiliarity with both most of the material and his rhythm section mates, the overall impression is of this being a well rehearsed endeavour as he navigates bebop favourites ‘Tin Tin Deo’ and ‘Birk’s Works’, a bunch of quality standards, a couple of spur-of-the-moment originals ‘Red Pepper Blues’ and ‘Waltz Me Blues’ and a spirited dash through his own ‘Straight Life’. Against the worst odds imaginable, the successful outcome has as much to do with the combined strength of Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe as it is to do with Art Pepper’s ability to pull this one out of the fire with such panache.
An excellent and atmosheric record it’s a great LP that at times is a little strange the vocal on Mooncup is a bit Peter Sellers.
I’ve been eyeing up the recent Speakers Corner reissue has anyone heard it?
Of course and as I stated above pre Love Supreme Coltrane released some incredible music including your seledction here and the similar Ballads album is also beautifully played.
Sound Liaison continues with the One Mic approach and with excellent results.
This Django style quartet seems ideally suited for the concept.
Highly recommended.
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Arguably John Coltrane’s finest all-around album, this recording has brilliant versions of “Afro Blue” and “I Want to Talk About You”; the second half of the latter features Coltrane on unaccompanied tenor tearing into the piece but never losing sight of the fact that it is a beautiful ballad. The remainder of this album (“Alabama,” “The Promise,” and “Your Lady”) is almost at the same high level.
Me too. I struggle with a lot of the post Love Supreme material.
Music I once heard (or read) George Melly describe, referring to free jazz in general, as “sounding like a fire in a pet shop”
As I said though, version two is more accessible and IIRC it was the version Coltrane wanted to be released, but the record company released the first in error.
The second is just that bit more controlled and ordered, which I find an easier route in. The current CD release features both and I believe it can be found at quite racy prices (<£5) these days. You can then programme v2 to play first to prepare your ears for the assault of v1.
