JOHN COLTRANE QUINTET – Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 1 (1966 / 2LP-1980)

Label: MCA Records – MCA VIM-4628–29(M)

MAPS 9764

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Japan / Released: 1980

Style: Free Jazz, Modal, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Koseinenkin-Hall, Tokyo, on July 22, 1966.

Previously released on Coltrane In Japan (Impulse! ‎– IMR-9036C / 3LP-1973)

Album Photography : Tadayuki Naitoh

Album Designed by Hisashi Tominaga

Manufactured By – Victor Musical Industries, Inc.

Matrix / Runout (A-Side Run Out): VIM-4628 - 9764A-1

Matrix / Runout (B-Side Run Out): VIM-4628 - 9764B-2

Matrix / Runout (A-Side Run Out): VIM-4629 - 9764A2-1

Matrix / Runout (B-Side Run Out): VIM-4629 - 9764B2-2

A1 - Introduction To My Favorite Things ........................................................ 14:40

        (Solo By Jimmy Garrison)

A2 - My Favorite Things Part 1 ....................................................................... 11:36

B  -  My Favorite Things Part 2 ....................................................................... 31:20

C  -  Leo Part 1 ............................................................................................... 17:15

D  -  Leo Part 2 ............................................................................................... 28:00

Personnel:

John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, bass clarinet

Alice Coltrane – piano

Jimmy Garrison – bass

Rashied Ali – drums, percussion

JOHN COLTRANE QUINTET / Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 1 (1980 Japanese MCA rainbow label 5-track double vinyl LP), recorded live during Coltrane's only tour of Japan at the Koseinenkin Hall, Tokyo on July 22nd 1966 with Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison and Rashied Ali.

Coltrane In Tokyo is a remarkable set of music, documenting two stints in Tokyo in July of ’66, it shows Coltrane with his newest cronies at some absolutely inspired heights of playing. Their sound is unlike anything that came before it, fed by the fiery push and shove of the more melodic Coltrane and the fractured torment of Pharoah Sanders; Alice Coltrane’s otherworldly piano playing and Rashied Ali’s untraceable flurry of rhythms "powered" by the increasingly dissonant, thumping grooves of Garrison’s masterly interweaving.

Coltrane In Tokyo sees Coltrane climbing towards the height of his gradual evolution, and each document of Coltrane’s journey is seemingly more mind-opening than the last. His explorations into foreign tonal and improvisational ideas with Eric Dolphy on 1962’s Ole Coltrane planted the seed for his mystical brand of intense soul-searching, only to be expanded upon time and time again until it seemed as if the man were ready to explode with ambition for want a higher state of understanding. Coltrane’s thirst for new sounds is fundamentally intertwined with his desire to see the universe from a new, higher perspective, and this is why his music exudes its spiritual, even cosmic aura.

Arriving in July 1966, Coltrane is only one year away from his untimely death, but his fervor for life is at an all-time high. His stream-of-consciousness investigations are more adventurous than ever, and this record encapsulates brilliantly the heart of what makes jazz music so compelling. The opening cut of this set is a wild retelling of an old favorite that everyone knows: “My Favorite Things.” But not everyone knows this version. The main theme is merely alluded to, putting all the focus on the improvisation; and to see the constant re-invention of such a well-known standard from its humble beginnings on Coltrane’s 1961 release to the hour-long epic majesty as presented to Japan on this night is absolutely extraordinary. It’s a testament to the immortality of jazz as an artform and its room for constant reinvention, solely through the unique sensibilities of the musicians telling their own stories.

There’s almost a sense of competition going on here, with Coltrane bumping up the ferocity to match the atonal shrieks of his sideman. The take on “Leo” here, a cut that originally appeared as a sax-drum duet on Interstellar Space illustrates the dynamic fury of the ensemble like nothing else. The addition of the extra horn and Alice Coltrane’s piano adds new dimension to the tune in unexpected ways, coloring it with new shades of ethereal chaos. The highlight may still be when all else goes silent, though, and Rashied Ali’s drum solo takes over. He tears open conventional hard bop style and shows me the song’s rhythm through a kaleidoscope, fracturing my sense of time and momentum. There’s unbelievable power behind his playing, his kick drum pounds like the stomp of a warhorse; his fills tumbling, dynamic, atmospheric. Alice C.’s piano solo immediately thereafter spirals through realms of the unreal and climaxes into a full-on imaginative flight from Coltrane and later Pharoah.

Coltrane liked to open his tunes with extended bass solos, which is evident in both of the near-hour long tracks, “My Favorite Things” and “Crescent”. This technique is something I’ve fallen in love with, as Jimmy Garrison’s bass throughout the album adds gravity to the music, nimbly intermingling with Ali’s schizophrenia, somehow navigating the polyrhythms and outlining the groove. But, stripped of all the other elements, Garrison’s bass delineates the atmosphere of the tune with ad-libbed solos that draw the listener into the world of the song before the rest of the band takes flight, beating around connotations and whispers of a hardbop swing, scaling through hints of motifs and building cleverly with tense chords and transient grooves. When the rest of the band comes tumbling in nearly 15 minutes into “My Favorite Things,” the stage has been set, the lights dimmed, the incense burned...

If you find it, buy this album!