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!
