aj lacourse

I actually attended this jazz concert back in high school. Pretty sure it was on a Sunday night cause we didn't get home till 2 am & thought about driving straight to school & sleeping in the lot ( couldn't relax after 5+ hours of glorious music anyway). Before recalling how Coltrane sounded, let me set the scene. Four downriver boys barely in high school somehow got a car so we could make the trek north. We had been listening to A Love Supreme endlessly & needed to hear Trane live or regret it forever. My recollection is the line up was something like this...Jack Brokenshaw with Bess Bonier opened & played a while ( perhaps stalling for the other musicians to show up). Clark Terry's group was early & did an audience desired set with Clark doing his "mumbles" scatting. MJQ was somewhere in the mix & were impeccable(and dressed better than I had seen any group of men before).Now I may need help on this one(since I've lost touch with the other 3 guys), The Dave Brubeck Quartet seems correct. I haven't seen any mention of them so I hope somebody can confirm this. I just have a very strong memory of the drummer Joe Morello & could not believe someone blind could play so well. I think there was a trombone group ( Curtis Fuller or ?). Next was Sarah Vaughan or Monk, but pretty sure they were back to back.I remember a lively exchange between Sarah & Monk like they were the best of friends. I know those reading this are thinking " no way this lineup" PLUS Coltrane too. It was awesome. Now the icing...I had totally forgotten,till I read it here he was backed up by Monk's group. I'm nor sure this was announced at the time but it was seamless.Not everyone there had come to see Trane but most waited ( Cobo was close to a sellout though some seats might have been closed off). Trane walks out on stage and just starts playing "Nothingness" to most everyones startled ears. It was not well received with a few boo's, some laughter, but mostly confused silence. Now I was a Coltrane fan & even I had to work to enjoy what was being played. It was at least a 15 minute version with little relief from the sax. With no introduction, the second & last tune started more to the crowds liking. It was a long lead in to My Favorite Things, which most of the audience didn't recognize. When he finally reached it the crowd went nuts. I can still feel 40+ years later the pure joy of his playing. This was a very extended version with all players getting ample time to swing. Trane finished & the crowd erupted to their feet with applause. He took a quick bow and was done. Truly memorable. Please if anyone can confirm or deny my recollections, I'd love to hear. A.J.

Yes--John Sinclair does talk about seeing this concert in the Brilliant Corners interview, collected in Sascha Feinstein's ASK ME NOW anthology. Iirc their (Monk/Coltrane) reunion came about because of somebody getting snowed in, but I don't have the book with me right now--will check when I get to work. I believe it's also discussed in the new edition of the Coltrane reference book. Wait a sec--yes, it's discussed in Kelley's new Monk bio as well (which I do have at hand, sitting on my desk here at home). Bad weather prevented many of the artists Wein had booked from arriving for the concert, with the exception of Monk's group, Sarah Vaughan, and John Coltrane sans quintet (but w/Alice). I think he's quoting Wein's recent memoir: If anybody does have that new edition of the Coltrane reference book, it might say whether or not there's any known audio of this concert.