Late

Well, I contacted Cuscuna himself on the matter. He kindly wrote me back (same day!), and reported what I should have known — those session tapes (that I listed above) are missing. "One of the great vault tragedies in recorded music" were his exact words. I agree (and hope he doesn't mind me quoting him). It's fun to guess at what else might be out there, but it's also important (I have to remind myself sometimes) to reinvestigate what you already have. Everybody has listening phases (e.g. listening only to Sidney Bechet for three weeks, listening to Ben Webster straight for eight hours, listening to Ayler first thing in the morning with espresso, etc.), and I've been enjoying an unexpected late-period Coltrane phase. I'm hearing things in the music I haven't noticed before. That's what it's all about — that's what good music is all about. Coltrane gave us so much.

I'm still waiting for the Jackie McLean (Bluesnik) lunchbox.

You mentioned wanting to hear a decent transfer of Expression. To my ears, the 1987 German edition of Expression (#254 646-2), which was "Manufactured by Record Service GmbH, Alsdorf," and issued by Warner (now 30 years ago!), sounds flat transferred. It's very quiet, but when you turn the volume up, it sounds quite good. No ear fatigue whatsoever.

Saw the documentary last night. I can't say I was wowed, but maybe that's because so much of the story I was already familiar with (as, I imagine, most of the posters here are too). The home movie footage was a delight, but it seemed that the documentary leaned a little too heavily on shaping Coltrane as some kind of spiritual soothsayer or musical mystic. The idea of mysticism, to me, often undermines the incredible amount of labor (hours upon hours of practice) that is responsible for creating a larger-than-life figure. I think Coltrane would have felt very uncomfortable being regarded as some type of American guiding light. I noticed that, in more than one of the Japan tour photos, Coltrane is holding a violin case.

Perhaps the new Coltrane documentary in theaters (I'm actually going to see it tonight) will spark some interest and/or re-evaluation. At some point, I imagine, the Japanese will get to these sessions. Maybe in 2026, Coltrane's centennial?

One of the aspects of Coltrane's music that makes it worth coming back to is its sheer density and length. I've owned Live In Seattle for a long time, as an example, but it wasn't until a few days ago that I actually listened, closely, to all 36 minutes of "Evolution" — whew! At any rate, just when I think I too have heard enough, I get whomped over the head with just how much I didn't hear the first time. I'm a little surprised that more late period studio work hasn't already been issued. Those 2011 Coltrane SHM-CDs have excellent sound. (I missed out on the Live In Seattle issue. Argh!) I listened to the 2011 SHM-CD of Sun Ship just today. It follows the edits (which are minor) of the vinyl, and sounds very, very good (considering that it's a non-RVG recording, and Tyner's piano is squashed hard left in the stereo mix). Hearing that quartet at the very end — right before dissolving into the group with Alice and Rashied — is something else. I need to play the Half Note and Temple sets more.

I wonder if Ravi is working with Universal to put more of his father's work out into the world. What's still in the vaults? And what would you like to hear? Browsing the Coltrane discography, there are a number of unissued studio recordings originally made for Impulse! • April 21, 1966 - four unreleased studio tracks • April 28, 1966 - two unreleased studio tracks • February 27, 1967 - two unreleased studio tracks • March 29, 1967 - six unreleased studio tracks • May 17, 1967 - two unreleased studio tracks Coltrane's last session in the studio (May 17, 1967) yielded the tracks "None Other" and "Kaleidoscope." I wonder if he titled them himself. Would love to hear what these later recordings sound like. I'm in the mood for a box set of unissued studio recordings!

Brilliant Corners I wanted to bring to the board's attention the literary journal out of Lycoming College (in Williamsport, Pennsylvania) called Brilliant Corners. It focuses on all things related to jazz in literary forms. The current issue contains work by Yusef Komunyakaa and Billy Collins, among others. I was fortunate to have poems on Albert Ayler and Nina Simone included in this issue as well. Copies are usually $7 (and not just the recent issue). Support the indies if you're curious!

Indispensable: The track "Blue Tango" is perfection.

These are all available as downloads at Amazon (U.S.). Great to see all three volumes of the Tuba Trio Circle albums. These and three other albums are recommendable: • Paragon • The Quest • Sizzle I always wanted Mosaic to do a Rivers trio set, but this is good. Anyone have Samthology? Looks like a comp of sorts. And I'm guessing it's been licensed from Rivers' daughter:

Braxton was being kind. There's a saxophone even smaller than the sopranino. Behold the sopranissimo (or "soprillo") saxophone:

Picked this one up recently without even checking the personnel: I had it on but was doing something else at the moment. As soon as Lock came on, I turned my head to the speakers. What the ... ? Lock?! He has that way of grabbing your attention. I didn't even check the line-up, and Lock finished his (albeit brief) solo. Fine album, by the way. Also have to put a plug in for this one:

Did anyone pick this one up? Sound samples can be found on YouTube. Tasty. It appears to already be out-of-stock at CD Japan.

This disc appears to collect his early solo work, though the marketplace price is ... prohibitive. Maybe it's best just to pick up the Mosaic. This disc looks really interesting. Anyone here happen to have it?

No Coming, No Going is really, really good. The 2-disc set comes from Latvia. Took about a week to arrive in the U.S. Kuhn wrote the liner notes, and they're excellent — a brief musical autobiography of sorts, reflecting on fellow musicians, his problems with substance abuse and later recovery, and his way in and out (and then back in) to the music. I don't usually enjoy liner notes, but these were memorable. Some great anecdotes about Frank Lowe and Billy Bang in particular. The music is killer. If you like free jazz — and this is free jazz that doesn't just try to blow the door down — you'll want to hear this. The trumpet player Arthur Williams plays some of the best free trumpet I've ever heard. Thoughtful, brilliant stuff. And with William Parker and Denis Charles on board, you almost can't lose. Pick this one up (if you're inclined toward this type of music) before it falls into oblivion. I'm very glad I did.