John Coltrane Complete Africa/Brass Sessions CD

John Coltrane Quartet: John Coltrane (soprano & tenor saxophones); McCoy Tyner (piano); Reggie Workman (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).
Additional personnel: Eric Dolphy (conductor, alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet); Romulus Franceschini (conductor); Pat Patrick (baritone saxophone); Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Britt Woodman (trombone); Julius Watkins, Donald Corrado, Bob Northern, Jimmy Buffington, Robert Swisshelm (French horn); Julian Priester, Charles Greenlee, Carl Bowman (euphonium); Bill Barber (tuba); Garvin Bushell (piccolo, reeds); Paul Chambers, Art Davis, Reggie Workman (bass).
Producer: Creed Taylor.
Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on May 23 & June 4, 1961. Originally released as AFRICA/BRASS on Impulse! (AS-6), AFRICA/BRASS SESSIONS - VOLUME TWO on Impulse! (AS-9273) and TRANE'S MODES on Impulse! (IZ 9361). Includes original release liner notes by Dom Cerulli and reissue liner notes by David A. Wild.
This two-disc collection gathers the results of two recording sessions from April and May 1961 with the John Coltrane Orchestra. As the title indicates, The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions includes both volumes of the work and relocates "The Damned Don't Cry" -- originally issued on the Trane's Modes compilation -- to this more chronologically sound release. On this collection, these recordings replicate the sequence in which they were documented. After a successful string of albums on Atlantic Records, Coltrane signed to the burgeoning and jazz-intensive Impulse! label -- a relationship which would be kept for the remainder of his career. Shortly after reprising his role in the Miles Davis Sextet on "Teo" as well as the title track for Davis' Someday My Prince Will Come long-player, Coltrane assembled a 17-piece orchestra and began recording what would become known as Africa/Brass. Among the jazz luminaries contributing to these landmark sessions are: Booker Little (trumpet), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), Eric Dolphy (alto sax/bass clarinet), McCoy Tyner (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums). Coltrane manipulates their power into masterful contrasts between the syncopated rhythms of "Greensleeves" or the full-out bop onslaught of "Songs of the Underground Railroad." The amazing virtuosity in Coltrane's solos has begun to show signs of the future direction his later avant-garde sides would take. The interaction with Tyner on "Songs of the Underground Railroad" is impeccable. Coltrane allows room for Elvin Jones and Reggie Workman to likewise engage Tyner for some high-spirited improvisation. This is a key work in understanding the path John Coltrane's music took in its final phases. The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions brilliantly documents this pivotal era in Coltrane's music. ~ Lindsay Planer
At the end of John Coltrane's two-year contract with Atlantic Records in 1961, the saxophonist became one of the first major figures to sign up with ABC-Paramount's new label, Impulse! Six years later, he died, leaving behind an immense legacy of music. There is a sense of adventure, expectation and delight to Coltrane's Impulse! recordings--a sustained burst of creativity which constitutes his greatest achievements.
The soulful folk songs--past, present and future--which make up THE COMPLETE AFRICA/BRASS SESSIONS are a celebration of freedom: the freedom to create on a higher plane, the freedom he felt in playing with his new quartet. In a sense, THE COMPLETE AFRICA/BRASS SESSIONS are a celebration of McCoy Tyner's contribution to the group. Tyner's distinctive block voicings, and his method of modulating in fourths were a major part of the quartet's sound. Reed innovator Eric Dolphy (who joined Coltrane's Quartet later in 1961) took melodic ideas and chords from Coltrane and Tyner, and developed brass-reed orchestrations that echoed the characteristic Tyner sound, and the quartet's modeQ (1/96, p.146) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...the highlights remain the beautiful `Greensleeves' and the ebullient `Song of the Underground Railroad'..."
JazzTimes (3/96, p.90) - "...Committed Coltrane listeners would do well by dumping the single disc and picking up the truly complete AFRICA/BRASS."