John Coltrane Ascension CD

Personnel: John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); John Tchicai, Marion Brown (alto saxophone); Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders (tenor saxophone); Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).
Producer: Bob Thiele.
Reissue producer: Bryan Koniarz.
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on June 28, 1965. Originally released on Impulse (95). Includes liner notes by Lewis Porter and A.B. Spellman.
Digitally remastered by Kevin Reeves (Universal Mastering Studios-East).
Personnel: John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); John Tchicai, Marion Brown (alto saxophone); Freddie Hubbard (tenor saxophone, trumpet); Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone); Dewey Johnson (trumpet); McCoy Tyner (piano); Elvin Jones (drums).
Liner Note Authors: Lewis Porter; A.B. Spellman.
Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (06/28/1965).
Photographers: Chuck Stewart; Charles Stewart.
Ascension is the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde. Whereas, prior to 1965, Coltrane could be heard playing in an avant vein with stretched-out solos, atonality, and a seemingly free design to the beat, Ascension throws most rules right out the window with complete freedom from the groove and strikingly abrasive sheets of horn interplay. Recorded with three tenors (Trane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp), two altos (Marion Brown, John Tchicai), two trumpet players (Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson), two bassists (Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison), the lone McCoy Tyner on piano, and Elvin Jones on the drums, this large group is both relentless and soulful simultaneously. While there are segments where the ensemble plays discordant and abrasive skronks, these are usually segues into intriguing blues-based solos from each member. The comparison that is immediately realized is Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz of five years previous. However, it should be known that Ascension certainly carries its own weight, and in a strange sense makes Coleman's foray a passive adventure -- mostly due to an updated sonic quality (à la Bob Thiele) and also Trane's greater sense of passionate spiritualism. Timed at around 40 minutes, this can be a difficult listen at first, but with a patient ear and an appreciation for the finer things in life, the reward is a greater understanding of the personal path that the artist was on at that particular time in his development. Coltrane was always on an unceasing mission for personal expansion through the mouthpiece of his horn, but by the time of this recording he had begun to reach the level of "elder statesman" and to find other voices (Shepp, Sanders, and Marion Brown) to propel and expand his sounds and emotions. Therefore, Ascension reflects more of an event rather than just a jazz record and should be sought out by either experienced jazz appreciators or other open-minded listeners, but not by unsuspecting bystanders. ~ Jack LV Isles
The album ASCENSION played a profoundly important role in John Coltrane's final period. Recorded in June 1965, almost exactly two years before his death, this session marks Coltrane's final stepping off point into free jazz. The album also marks a division for Coltrane's fans, as there are some that applaud his final escape from jazz tradition while others simply couldn't follow him into the great unknown.
One way or another, ASCENSION refuses to be ignored. A stunning list of colleagues joins the legendary saxophonist on his final quest. Besides his famed regular quartet, avant-garde saxophonists Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp, extra bassist Art Davis, and even trumpet star Freddie Hubbard, among others, produce an intense sonic assault. If you're sensitive to dissonant noise and uncontrolled barrages of sound, ASCENSION will offer you no comfort. However, the unbridled emotional onslaught that Coltrane unleashes here dwarfs any other artist's entire oThe Wire (6/01, p.42) - "...The most important record Coltrane ever made. It marked such a violent severance with his past that many critics at the time thought he had lost his mind..."
Down Beat (12/00, p.94) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...There is no more radical free-jazz statement than 1965's ASCENSION....this album roars and soars beyond its milieu to become one for the ages and is Coltrane's most difficult statement for jazz traditionalists to follow..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.52) - Ranked #8 in Mojo's "The 50 Most Out There Albums Of All Time" - "ASCENSION remains a uniquely draining, frighteningly human and intense experience."