Search - John Coltrane :: Live Trane: The European Tours

Spiritual Pungence on the Razor's Edge

Mark E. Farrington | Albany, NY | 10/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The "Classic" John Coltrane Quartet, 1961 thru '63, live in Paris, Stockholm and West Berlin (in transfers vastly improved from previous issues) and in a more sympathetic setting than their "home base."



Now, it's true that there has been some "flap" between various Coltraneologists and Pablo, over apparently incorrect dates for some of the earlier tracks in this box..."Is it Paris or is it Stockholm?" Three selections, allegedly air-checks from Birdland in NYC (not the European tours) have sound quality that is distinctly inferior to all the other tracks; whatever their origin, they were probably NOT recorded with equipment belonging to Norman Granz (who produced these European tours).



Still, Pablo is to be applauded for 1) negotiating royalties with the Coltrane Estate and the surviving musicians, so that much of this material is legitimately released for the first time, and "de-bootlegged." 2) The SOUND, people, the SOUND of these tracks (at least the ones which have been heard previously) is better than it's ever been...For example, the former "drop-outs" in the Berlin "Favorite Things" are gone- and even those "Birdland" tracks are truly LISTENABLE for the first time.



Dive into this box, and when you come out of it you'll realize what's been lost since 1963: a fresh sense of adventure, somehow married to lucidity...a "phase" which cannot always be sustained in either a society as a whole, or even within the work of any one artist (not even Trane ! ). Certainly, the November 2, 1963 "Favorite Things" is the greatest of all surviving versions, for its poise on the razor's edge of supreme spiritual risk-taking and sweet, almost Greek-classical lucidity...And all this before a series of audiences for whom this combination was as natural as the air they breathed...Such an atmosphere does not and cannot exist, today.



And, of course, you could hardly "do it again" within this idiom. It wasn't just record-company greed and commercial pressure that led Carlos Santana and his generation to funk, fusion, and paths other than acoustic post-bop...Because Trane had very nearly exhausted this idiom, the next generation HAD to explore elsewhere...Nevertheless, Santana and others were emboldened by Trane's risk-taking and "purity of intention" (to borrow a phrase from Thomas Merton, who also loved Coltrane).



By immersing yourself in this 7-CD box, you'll very nearly get it all "back," then forward...I remember when I first took this set home- tired and mentally worn down after a day-from-hell-at-the-office, intending just to sample a few tracks...Within ten minutes, something more than just adrenaline began to kick in..."Holes" were "punched" in my fatigue, the mind began feeling "toned up," and a sense of possibilities began to surface...In about two hours, the wild stream of life was flowing again, and I forgot all about being "worn down"... What (in LETTERS TO OLGA) Vaclav Havel calls Being, turned toward me and I toward Being...Whether or not it sounds "strange," I'll sign off with this : It's in this music, I'm telling you it's HERE."

Exceptional

john rite | 06/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know of anywhere else to hear "my favorite things" and "blue train" with dolphy. The first two discs are practically worth the price of the set, and I deliberated buying it for a bit. Plus, there are three versions of MFT with dolphy (six total). I agree totally with another reviewer who says that this set is the next logical place to go after the complete village vanguard, which people will buy first simply because it's more known.

Do not just buy Afro blue impressions and consider it a condensed version of this set. You won't get the dolphy. And the twenty five mintute version of MFT is simply amazing. Time will get warped should you listen to this when really relaxed. I'd write more but I'm going to listen to the set right now."

Three Stars? Gimme a Break

Talking Wall | Queen Creek, AZ | 01/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe someone purchased this and then gave it three stars. Obviously this individual does not realize what they have in their collection. I had some of this stuff (Afro Blue Impressions) on vinyl from Pablo records and another Trane/Dolphy in Europe that I picked up on vinyl while living in England many years ago. I purchased this set in mp3 format (couldn't afford the actual box but it's the music that matters, right?)This is Trane and the peak of his "accessible" powers. The Quartet smokes, it rages, it's tender, it's violent, it's awe-inspiring. Incredible! Three stars? Thou art very naive whoever you are. Even four stars is questionable. This music is worth of 10,000 stars!"