Guy Berger Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I have been listening to recordings of the Coltrane Quartet from March '65 at the Half Note. This is some incredible music, crappy sound quality not withstanding. If you listen to only the officially recorded stuff, it seems like he underwent a very rapid change in style, from A Love Supreme in December to recordings like Transition and Vigil, onto the final quartet recordings on Sun Ship and First Meditations. What these live recordings show is that the Quartet was already performing at Sun Ship - level intensity months earlier. The 3/19 show has a boiling version of "Impressions", and the 3/26 "One Up, One Down" has one of the most incredible Trane-Elvin duets I've heard. Highly recommended!! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Man Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 I've also been listening to the Half Note material lately (right now, in fact...), and I've been consistently blown away at the level of intesity and interplay that the Quartet attains during these performances. Hearing the Classic Quartet play their regular gig at their home base for several weeks in a row (much like Bird at the Royal Roost) has given me completely new insight into what this group could do. While the studio albums (and even the Live Trane Pablo box material) are obviously indispensible, and present many facets of the Quartet's sound, I find that the Half Note material best represents the group's improvisational acumen. Coltrane is stunning here. His solos, while typically long, almost never meander, and the Jones-Trane duet that Guy mentions left me on the edge of my seat (literally) for about 10 minutes. IMHO, this material is essential listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 Pretty amazing stuff indeed. Wonder why we're all listening to it lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 (edited) What these live recordings show is that the Quartet was already performing at Sun Ship - level intensity months earlier. The 3/19 show has a boiling version of "Impressions", and the 3/26 "One Up, One Down" has one of the most incredible Trane-Elvin duets I've heard. ...or could "months earlier" actually be "years earllier?" I have 2 volumes on Magnetic Records of what are supposed to be recordings from the Half Note from 1965. The versions of "One Up, One Down" and "I Want to Talk About You" on these discs are listed as being from 3/19 and 4/2 '65. Yet I have another CD on Cool and Blue with these exact same performances and a claim that they are from Birdland 2/23/63. They are also listed as Birdland 2/23/63 in David Wild's discography: http://home.att.net/~dawild/john_coltrane_discography.htm. Now David Wild's discography does have a 3/28/65 entry for "One Down, One Up" at the Village Gate. This was evidently recorded professionally by Rudy Van Gelder at the same concert as the live version of Nature Boy that is now a bonus track on the "John Coltrane Plays..." CD. Wild lists the track as "unissued" and doesn't even have a time entry for it. To make things even more mysterious, the piece "One Down, One Up" that Coltrane recorded in the studio on 5/26/65 is not the same composition as "One Up, One Down" as recorded (evidently) at Birdland in 1963. There is also a High Note listing in Wild's discography for a performance of "I Want to Talk About You" (private tape) that clocks in at 15:26, which is longer than my 10:00 (evidently Birdland 63) version. For those of you who have more recent releases of this material, which versions are you guys listening to and what is currently available? I know that there was a new disc of material supposedly from the High Note released not long ago. It had "One Up, One Down" and "I Want to Talk About You." listed and I didn't buy it under the impression that it must be a repetition of the same error. Edited December 14, 2003 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 (edited) John, there has been a recent tree that has circulated which included, among other material, the following: From 3/19/65 Chim Chim Cherre 19:39 Impressions 20:55 From 3/26/65 One Up, One Down 28:13 (inc) Afro Blue 12:40 (inc) From 4/2/65 Untitled Original 23:37 I Want to Talk About You 15:42 Afro Blue 6:21 (inc) From 5/7/65 Song of Praise 20:55 My Favorite Things 23:51 That is the first four discs of the tree; the rest includes Ayler and Coleman funeral music, two interviews (one in Tokyo and one by Kofsky in NYC), 8/1/65 from Comblain, Belgium, 7/2/65 from Newport Festival,7/27/65 from Juan les Pins, and 7/28/65 from Salle Pleyel, Paris, a Downbeat festival appearance and a track from the Penthouse. Edited December 14, 2003 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks, Lon. It looks like that 3/26 date might be something new. There is no mention of it in Wild's discography either. Could you tell me one thing? On the version of "I Want to Talk About You," is Coltrane plagued by a sqeaky reed? On the version included in the Magnetic Half Note CDs, which is listed by Cool and Blue as well as Wild as being from 1963, Trane actually begins the solo on a squeak, and hits a few others before he is through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks, Lon. It looks like that 3/26 date might be something new. There is no mention of it in Wild's discography either. John -- A couple of recordings in this tree are not in the Wild discography, including the Down Beat Jazz Festival performance w/Archie Shepp and the balance of the 9/30/65 Seattle concert w/Pharoah and Donald Garrett. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 It's clearly from the Half Note John, and different from the 10:49 version or so that is likely a Birdland performance (?) On this version from the tree (and also appearing an earlier tree product called "Sweet Potato Pie") Allan Grant clearly states that it is the Coltrane Quartet recording I Want to Talk About You live from the Half Note on Portraits in Jazz. . . . It's a clear stereo recording. Quite a good performance, without the squeaking on the shorter version you're familiar with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave9199 Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 I can tell you that the balance of the Seattle 65 show, aside from the first 30 minute track, was a tape that came to light after the tree had just been circulated. It was halted so these 3 tracks (fade up on incomplete Afro Blue, Lush Life & My Favorite Things (inc.)) could be added. They listed them as being from this show, but having heard it myself, I don't think it is, but feel it is from 1965. I'd have to listen again, but I didn't hear Sanders & Garrett on any of these 3 songs. Aside from that, the tree is great. Nature Boy/Blue Valse w/ Archie Shepp is the lowest quality sounding part of the whole tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Man Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Wild mentions in his notes to the 9/30/65 Seattle Concert that "Two titles also exist from a radio broadcast from this venue, which was not a part of the actual session (the broadcast may or may not be from the same night)." Could these tunes be what he's referring to? Is the Afro Blue on this tape a different performance than on the Impulse "Live In Seattle" CD release? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks, Guy and Lon. That is interesting information. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.