JOHN COLTRANE–tenor, soprano saxophones McCOY TYNER–piano –bass –drums

DISC 1 1. LONNIE’S LAMENT 10:15 2. 8:05 3. CHASIN’ THE TRANE 5:45 4. MY FAVORITE THINGS 21:07 5. AFRO BLUE 7:34 6. COUSIN MARY 9:55

DISC 2

1. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU 8:20 photo © Riccardo Schwamenthal/CTSIMAGES 2. SPIRITUAL 12:29 3. IMPRESSIONS 11:36

BONUS TRACKS (Not On Original Album) 4. NAIMA 6:39 5. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU 9:52 6. MY FAVORITE THINGS 13:57

Original recordings produced by Norman Granz Reissue produced by Nick Phillips 24-bit Remastering—Joe Tarantino (Joe Tarantino Mastering, Berkeley, CA) Disc 1 and Disc 2, #1 recorded live in Berlin; November 2, 1963. Disc 2, #2-6 recorded live in Stockholm; October 22, 1963. nding fresh nding himself confronted by a gures in any attempt to appraise the to appraise attempt gures in any many chord changes into the structure of of the structure into changes chord many The old-timers to make used one a solo. bars; four over the virtuosi stretch harmony the idea age preferred swing prewar of the from bar to shifted which of harmonies came the idea of chromatic bar; with Parker much the main harmonies, bridges linking subjunctiveas a series of lend clauses can him- sentence. Coltrane color to a simple sounds like cramming a player self often into every beat; but where change a chord of the relevance of lay the ultimate? Much to do with certain what Coltrane played is by a experiments conducted was the question in which few years earlier, asked:Are conventional chord sequenc- one or two Davis es necessary at all? In laid aside were albums, harmonies as such that is to say, of modal patterns, in favor instead of fi the soloist was series of resolving chords, rather than a scalic line, a melodic offered to hang his a harmonic pendant on which Or perhaps he might use improvisation. only in the limited sense of a harmony with theme consisting only of two chords, the dynamism of the performance based on the pendulum-like swing of the solo from one of those harmonies to the other. the musician to liberate The aim was from his self-made prison of discord-to- concord resolution and in so doing in- crease the likelihood of his fi intended to be of thought. It was patterns was process, but the irony an uncluttering the harmonic freeway, that in uncluttering encour- the experimenters inadvertently melodic line. aged an even more cluttered When a man has no laws of perspective to observe, his inclination will be to doodle. people mistake avant- so many That is why phenomenal tech- frippery for a garde in their excitement that nique, forgetting in music consists not of playing virtuosity a lot of notes fast, but of playing a lot of notes fast within the constraints of form. makes us doubt the claims of so rule which But Coltrane is an exception to that experimental pretenders. what- For many playing, the ever one thinks of Coltrane’s can never be laid against which one charge this For him is of posturing or insincerity. reason he is one of the most important fi The truth is that validity of the avant-garde. how far he sometimes strayed no matter culty inhibiting ng under the restraints ng under the restraints of traditional jazzmaking, a man struggling of traditional jazzmaking, kind of method to establish some new reconcile a thirst would somehow which for adventure with a respect for the canons of logic. In other spheres creative artists Picasso, and Bela Pablo Joyce, like James same made the acquaintance of the Bartók to solve enigma, creating new techniques new problems. Did Coltrane succeed? The answer is that sometimes he did and to What is important sometimes he didn’t. the understanding of him is the fact that he explorers one of the most intrepid was in raises the question of which jazz history, on the the time he arrived by how much, to explore. left scene, there was see Coltrane as a musician who, certainly The historians will Not so very much. having inherited the vast new harmonic bequeathed by Charlie Parker territories and to sought to consolidate those gains to know was The problem build upon them. in how to build upon them, for Parker, for the incorporation into opening the way jazz of an all-embracing harmonic system, had, like a westering pioneer too success- ful for his own eventual good, reached where else could an Parker, the sea; after without violating experimenter wander the bounds of formal logic altogether? In this album that is the question which Coltrane is constantly asking himself; what makes it fascinating is that there are some moments when he appears to have found The diffi a few answers. Rollins, players like Coltrane and Sonny caught on the horns of the same who was dilemma, is that you can only build so The nature of ’s performance performance Coltrane’s of John nature The it be taken that album demands on this order to un- In historical context. in its is he derstand and why he is doing what himself listener must acquaint doing it, the to the prevailing with great thoroughness at the time the performance winds of style of course, some extent, this To made. was junc- jazz musician at every is true of every so but it is particularly ture of his career, of Coltrane, who, in a comparatively brief advanced career, and extremely brilliant courage to the with a kind of desperate very frontiers and even, it should of lucidity them at the be said, occasionally beyond has only to hear very end of his life. One of Coltrane to perceive that half a chorus a man chafi he was photo © Rolf Ambor/CTSIMAGES from the harmonic fold. Coltrane always tem of thought or notation. retained a mastery over conventional jazz- However, I can think of no saxophone making methods which was total. Some player who will not attend closely to this of his performances were so fi ne that remarkable opening of the saxophonist’s they literally took the breath away; both Pandora’s Box and admire the wonder- in cleanliness of execution and beauty of ful variety of its contents. As the concert tone Coltrane possessed classic virtues, so proceeds, Coltrane brings up his reserves, that when he turned away from this con- as it were, only instead of cavalry he trol and deliberately courted disaster, and deploys the soprano saxophone, an by so doing implied that the constraints of obsolescent instrument which he did more form were now intolerable to him, we can- than any other saxophonist of the period to not do what we are inclined to do when we revivify. If the tricks he was attempting hear the same story from younger men, on the tenor were impractical, then they which is to wonder, if their mastery is all should have been downright impossible that complete, where they have hidden on the soprano, where the player can do the evidence (Coltrane left the evidence all so much less with his embouchure and over the place); had he never conducted a fi ngers to render the execution more single experiment in that improvising art, pliable. In the album’s one theme drawn he would still have been one of the great from the conventional popular repertoire, soloists of jazz. “Favorite Things,” Coltrane the soprano There is something else about player achieves his best strokes. This was Coltrane which needs to be said, and that the theme which always appeared to him is that not even the limits of his instru- to be the one perfectly suited for his sopra- ment were suffi cient for his purpose. no experiments; he never tired of playing it Within a few moments of starting to play in on the instrument and it can be discerned “Lonnie’s Lament” he is straining after quite unmistakably that he was able to notes far higher than those originally somehow add the theme to the horn and considered to be a practical possibility by arrive at some marvelous solutions. His the instrument’s inventor Adolphe Sax. soprano playing as typifi ed by “Favorite The listener should also take note of the Things” consists of passages of furious fact that once into his stride, Coltrane endeavor punctuated by other exquisitely becomes implicated in a duet with drum- beautiful interludes whose most precious mer Elvin Jones. There occur several virtue of all is that they are starkly original; parallel passages during the album, where in the passages where the soprano takes McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison drop wings in “Favorite Things.” Coltrane is gen- out, and it is safe to assume that each time uinely extending the frontiers of improvi- in favor of modal patterns, that is to say, sation, that is to say, he is annexing new they do so, it is a hint that Coltrane is to territory without resorting to methods of an extent chancing his arm, following in musical barbarism. The frightful problems the wake of his own inspiration or “freak- which Coltrane set himself in his career ing out” as it subsequently became known. were never really resolved; Coltrane him- The consummation of this approach comes self would have been the fi rst to admit that. in the coda of “I Want to Talk About You,” a Shortly after this concert he was passage so extended that it may be nomi- dead, still a young man and still with his nated as a remarkable example of the tail evolutionary cycle uncompleted. This wagging the dog, in so far as the coda album, which catches him at a point of virtually obliterates the performance it is balance between the comparative ortho- meant to be tying up. At this point in the doxies of the mid-1950s and the maelstrom concert, Coltrane is like a man transported of his last performances, is as graphic an by self-absorption into a room on his own, illustration of jazz in the instant before where he can blow his instrument and dissolution as any I can remember hearing. fi nger runs and arpeggios for the sheer naked pleasure of playing them. There is a —BENNY GREEN sense in which this sort of thing is a con- These notes appeared on fi dence trick, because the content of the the original album liner. ruminations is attached to no known sys-

There’s something about “50 years” that when America, fl ush with wartime victory he set the stage for such later producers as least seven other cities, including Oslo, catches our eyes and ears. and peacetime prosperity, grew up and out. Creed Taylor, of Verve and later CTI records; Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Paris, during a A half-century represents an extraordi- The country matured into a world leader Manfred Eicher, of ECM Records; and the period of just under two weeks. nary but still accessible milestone: a volu- and marked this development with an end- multifaceted Quincy Jones. This remastered edition comprises minous period of time that remains well less parade of vertical accomplishments, In 1961, Granz sold his Verve Records the original double-LP of the same name, within the grasp of the human intellect— from skyscrapers to moon shots; Coltrane’s catalog, which included all the record- issued on Pablo in 1977, and available on and, in modern times, within the physical solos of the ‘50s captured that spirit. But ings that had originally appeared on Clef CD since 1993. But with the 50th anniver- life span of the species. When something after 1961, when the world fi rst got to hear and Norgran—and artists such as Erroll sary repackaging of these performances, lasts 50 years, whether it be a marriage, a his recording of “My Favorite Things”—the Garner, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman you get a bonus: three more tracks, record- business, or an artistic breakthrough; and song that emblematized his “horizontal” Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, ed at a late-October concert in Stockholm. when that creation not only endures but ac- period—Coltrane’s solos anticipated and Lester Young, and dozens of others—as “Naima” and “I Want to Talk About You,” tually improves with age—well, it captures then mirrored the new decade’s hallmarks: well as some that had been licensed to fi rst appeared on the 1980 release of The our attention. (There’s a reason we shower America’s rejection of ‘50s values, its fas- Mercury Records. The price? A tidy sum of European Tour, while the closing version 50th-anniversary recipients with gold, the cination with meditation and introspection, $3 million—more than $23 million in 2013 of “MY Favorite Things” was formally is- most desired of precious metals.) and even its newfound suspicion of hier- dollars. Granz then chose to (and could sued only once before—on the 2001 multi- And when the celebration marks the archy (in the music’s abandonment of the obviously afford to!) leave the record busi- disc set Live Trane: The European Tours— anniversary of recordings as vital as these traditional theme-variation-theme format). ness behind. But a dozen years later, he although bootleg copies circulated for to the history of modern music—to modern It was hardly an accident that “My Favorite again heard the call, amplifi ed by the be- years. (A fair amount of confusion has at- culture as a whole—it deserves the treat- Things” should become the poster child lief that many of the storied artists he had tached to the details of Coltrane’s recordings ment afforded this reissue. for the second half of Coltrane’s career-- recorded or enjoyed in their younger for Granz between 1961 and 1963, owing to Coming almost exactly 50 years after despite the fact that, as a hit song from an years—shunted by rock and fusion from several factors: haphazard record-keep- these tracks were recorded, this set com- inspirational Broadway smash about Aus- the jazz spotlight—now more than ever ing in the Pablo fi les; the lack of modern memorates a pivotal moment in the devel- trian folk-singers fl eeing the Nazis, it was needed someone like him: a contemporary research tools available to discographers opment of John Coltrane, himself a pivotal about as far from American jazz as you who could understand and fully appreciate of the 1970s and ‘80s; and plain old human fi gure of his turbulent times. Among the could get. their talents. (The catalog included Count error and oversight. Those interested in handful of most infl uential musicians in The song uses surprisingly few chords Basie and , Joe Pass and Zoot delving further into the controversy should the 20th century, his relentless search for and has a simple, diatonic melody line Sims, and many others of that echelon.) access http://www.wildmusic-jazz.com/ new sounds and sonic truths has inspired written in the Dorian mode (which to That, of course, would not have applied livetrane.htm. But no dispute exists among musicians across genres—from jazz to rock most American ears sounds quite similar to John Coltrane, for several reasons, not Coltrane experts regarding the place and to what we quaintly call “world music”—as to a minor key), and in these respects, it the least of which was that by the time date of the specifi c 1963 performances well as visual and literary artists, poets and closely resembled several of Coltrane’s started up in 1973, Coltrane reissued here.) painters. own compositions of the time, such as had been dead for six years. And even if In 1963, the Coltrane Quartet used a The performances heard here document “Impressions” and “Cousin Mary” (and he had beaten the cancer that took his relatively limited (and accordingly well- the fulcrum of Coltrane’s artistic develop- later the “Resolution” movement from life and had remained on the scene, I doubt honed) repertoire designed to best display ment. Recorded during his European tour .) In fact, jazz fans who that Coltrane’s music—had it continued the strengths of their methodology; it con- in the fall of 1963, they land smack in the had not followed the Broadway season to develop in the direction it took at tained a few standards, a couple of older middle of a fi ve-year period in which the assumed that Coltrane had written “My his death—would have appealed to Coltrane compositions, and several songs saxophonist and his band completed a Favorite Things” himself, since it offered Norman Granz. from the burgeoning crop of new pieces frankly astonishing stylistic transition, such an ideal setting for his newly open- As shown by his pairings of such Coltrane had begun nurturing to suit the with wide-ranging implications for the ended solo explorations. artists as Charlie Parker and Lester Young, band’s new direction. But compare the dual music that would follow. This transition (Those who did know the song’s prov- or Roy Eldridge with Oscar Peterson, Granz versions of “Naima,” “My Favorite Things,” saw Coltrane move from his vertiginous enance may have expressed surprise, and was among the fi rst producers to have and “I Want To Talk About You” to hear that solo structures of the 1950s—the famous even dismay, upon learning it had entered connected the brilliance of the beboppers despite the band’s similar game plan on “,” constructed of swoop- Coltrane’s repertoire; if so, they had noth- to the giants who preceded them in the multiple performances of a given tune, ing scales and steeplechase arpeggios, ing on the members of his quartet. As Swing Era; this left no doubt as to his big each version provides a distinct aesthetic built on a foundation of increasingly com- pianist McCoy Tyner recalled, in a 2000 ears and wide-ranging aesthetic. Nonethe- experience. These tracks brim with the plex harmonic patterns—to a new method interview: “When John fi rst brought in ‘My less, his association with Coltrane comes wonder and the power of discovery. At this of improvisation, one that eschewed har- Favorite Things,’ I thought, ‘The Sound of as a surprise. Granz’s tastes navigated juncture, the Coltrane Quartet existed in a monic movement almost entirely to bet- Music? He wants to do this?’ Some fan had the mainstream: In fact, it was at a 1954 state analogous to quantum mechanics. ter facilitate an expansive lyricism. For the brought it in and said, ‘John, take a look recording session by ’s star In physics, quantum theory suggests that next three generations, musicians would at this’; I think it was at the Jazz Gallery altoist Johnny Hodges that Granz fi rst met the natural processes under observation continue to model their approach upon [a New York nightspot where the Coltrane Coltrane, then an up-and-coming tenor shift with the observer—in fact, with the Coltrane’s, or at least use his example as a Quartet often worked at the time]. Before I player (and still a year away from joining very act of observation. Each new perfor- spur to opening up their own music. knew it, we were playing it.”) Miles Davis). But by the time Granz and mance yielded new insights. As the musi- Coltrane displayed his earlier approach, The re-appearance of these tracks com- Coltrane next crossed paths, the saxophon- cians gathered this data and sifted through on disc and on stage, in bands led by memorates not only the 50th anniversary ist had embarked on the voyage that would it, they would arrive at the polished theo- and Miles Davis, as well of their creation, but also the 40th anniver- soon take him quite beyond the bounds of ries underlying the eventual masterworks as in a cornucopia of recordings under his sary of Pablo Records, the label that origi- mainstream jazz. to come, such as the album Crescent and own name, culminating in the 1959 album nally released them. As Granz would later write on the liner the monumental suite A Love Supreme— . You can describe this as his The last of several vital record compa- notes to the original LP issue of Afro Blue achievements that would then launch a “vertical” period: his solos raced up and nies founded and supervised by the impre- Impressions: “Between the Hodges album new age of chaotic discovery, on such down the horn, seemingly seeking an sario and record producer Norman Granz— and 1960, I had little to do with Trane, but albums as Om, , and Meditations. escape from the chord structures that preceded by Clef and Norgran in the 1940s, when I presented Miles Davis on his fi rst How much those recordings will reso- anchored them. But entering the ‘60s, and culminating in the grand creation of extended European tour, Trane . . . was part nate on their 50th anniversaries will likely Coltrane also entered a new phase: his “hor- Verve Records in the 1950s—Pablo offered of his group. Two years later, he selected engender some controversy; Coltrane izontal” period, with music free of harmonic an unexpected coda to one of the great ca- me to be the impresario for his fi rst Euro- didn’t live long enough to complete the constraints, often thrilling in its melodic reers associated with jazz. Having scored pean tour as a leader.” That fi rst tour took journey that began with them, and the jury sweep and its incantatory power, and an initial success through the invention of place in 1961; several more would follow. remains out, even decades later, regard- refusing to conform to the clock. (The the touring shows known as “JATP” (“Jazz Granz, as a veteran record producer, was ing the impact of that work. But history performance of a single tune could run 25 At The Philharmonic”) in the 1940s, Granz savvy enough to record the concerts that long ago weighed the import of his work in or 30 minutes). He had, for all intents and was arguably the fi rst jazz auteur, in the he himself produced on the tour; this col- 1963, when his music stretched and strug- purposes, turned his music 90 degrees and cinematic sense of that term: a producer lection, taken from concerts in Stockholm gled its way toward becoming Coltrane’s attained an entirely new perspective. who so fi rmly stamped his recordings and Berlin. Those were just the ones under iconic stylistic statement. This viewpoint encompassed more than that, no matter the artists, a listener had a Granz’s control, as opposed to the ones —NEIL TESSER just notes and rhythms. The fi rst half of good chance of picking out the man who handled by local European promoters; in June 2013 Coltrane’s career occurred during a decade had brought them together. In that sense, fact, this particular tour encompassed at Disc 1 BONUS TRACKS (Not on original album) 1. LONNIE’S LAMENT 10:15 4. NAIMA 6:39 2. NAIMA 8:05 5. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU 9:52 3. CHASIN’ THE TRANE 5:45 6. MY FAVORITE THINGS 13:57 4. MY FAVORITE THINGS 21:07 (Rodgers-Hammerstein) All selections composed by Williamson Music-ASCAP John Coltrane (Jowcol Music-BMI), ex- 5. AFRO BLUE 7:34 cept as indicated. 6. COUSIN MARY 9:55 JOHN COLTRANE—tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone Disc 2 McCOY TYNER—piano 1. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU 8:20 JIMMY GARRISON—bass (Billy Eckstine) ELVIN JONES—drums Unichappell Music-BMI 2. SPIRITUAL 12:29 Original Liner Notes by Benny Green 3. IMPRESSIONS 11:36 Cover photo by Y. Sato

Original recordings produced by Norman Granz Disc 1 and Disc 2, #1 recorded live in Berlin; November 2, 1963. Disc 2, #2-6 recorded live in Stockholm; October 22, 1963. Originally released as (Pablo Live 2620-101); except Disc 2, #4, 5 on (Pablo Live 2308-222); and Disc 2, #6 on Live Trane: The European Tours (Pablo 7PACD-4433) Reissue produced by Nick Phillips 24-bit Remastering—Joe Tarantino (Joe Tarantino Mastering, Berkeley, CA) Booklet Notes by Neil Tesser Editorial—Rikka Arnold Project Assistance—Abbey Anna, Bill Belmont, Chris Clough Reissue Design—Jimmy Hole

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