DICK

A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters
John Coltrane (Impulse!-Verve)
by George Kanzler
Returning from overseas in the spring of 1965, one of
the first sounds this reviewer heard from a phonograph
in the Southern States barracks that was then home
was saxophonist John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme.
Later in the decade, I would hear it in Africa—on the
radio and referenced by Highlife and AfroPop
musicians—and in America on sound systems during
rock concert intermissions. And guitarist Carlos
Santana’s experience, recounted in the notes written
by Coltrane scholar Ashley Kahn, of first having been
turned on to this music while smoking pot, was not an
unusual one in the ‘60s-70s.
For A Love Supreme is one of those very rare
albums, or any artifact for that matter, that transcends
labels and genres. It was one of the avatars of the
cultural zeitgeist that has come to be known as The
Sixties. Beyond its ‘spiritual’ influence—echoing
worship and mysticism—so new to jazz, its core
musical phrases and riffs were disseminated far and
wide, popping up in rock music as diverse as Santana
and Steely Dan. And thanks to the FCC’s “FM nonduplication
rule” issued the year before, the album
also became part of the new free-form FM radio format.
Here, in its 50th anniversary year of release, we
have the complete original LP expanded to two CDs
(three LPs) or, in a deluxe version of three CDs and
including a booklet of photos, Coltrane’s handwritten
charts and even fascsimile of the reel boxes. The latter
includes the only recording of a live performance of
the complete A Love Supreme, from the French Antibes
Jazz Festival (Jul. 26th, 1965) on the third CD. Added to
the original LP music on the first CD are two monaural
“reference” tracks given to Coltrane of the last two
parts of the suite. CD 2 contains both alternate takes
and overdubs from the quartet sessions, including the
vocal overdubs of Part I and the undubbed version of
Part IV (Coltrane added his own alto saxophone to the
tenor saxophone coda on the released version). The
quartet session was Dec. 9th, 1964; the next day
Coltrane brought a sextet in and recorded four takes
and two breakdowns of Part I— “Acknowledgement”,
which makes up the rest of the second disc.
The inclusion of alternate takes and the concert
recording here further emphasize the singular
achievement of the original album. There is a
concentrated focus to the music achieved in the
legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ
that day because, more than was usual for Coltrane, he
oversaw every detail of the performance. The
overdubbing of the vocal chant—associating words,
however brief, with the music cannot be discounted as
a major reason for the album’s astounding popular
success—demonstrates that detail, as does hearing
“Part IV—Psalm” before Coltrane added the
overdubbed alto, which gives the final version the
choir-like quality of a hymn.
The roles of his sidemen were also carefully
monitored, with bassist Jimmy Garrison repeating the
1-2-5 “love supreme” motif introduced in “Part I—
Acknowledgement” toward the conclusion of “Part
III—Pursuance”. Elvin Jones’ drumming was also more
directed than was usual on other quartet sessions and
performances, as Coltrane seems to have restricted his
sonic palette and range, so that certain tones and
timbres, like tympani (probably tuned toms) or tight
snare and/or cymbal rolls dominate at specific times.
Adding tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and bassist
Art Davis to the basic quartet (pianist McCoy Tyner
rounded out the group) the next day in the studio,
Coltrane tried more elaborate approaches to “Part I—
Acknowledgement” and the results are fascinating on
their own. But we should be grateful he decided not to
tamper with the concentrated, almost austere quartet
version that became the classic album.
How focused and singular that album is becomes
even more clear when compared to the live recording
of the work from Antibes, a fine example of the passion
and energy of the Coltrane Quartet typical of other live
recordings, but not much related to the iconic sound of
the studio LP.
For more information, visit vervemusicgroup.com
the first people journalists would contact when they
needed an authority on jazz-related topics. In addition
to his work in jazz education, Taylor was a superb
pianist and he is in fine form on this 1969 session,
released by MPS Records in Europe as Sleeping Bee but
titled Billy Taylor Today when Prestige rereleased it in
the United States.
Stylistically, Taylor favored a melodic but hardswinging
approach along the lines of Wynton Kelly,
Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones and Red Garland, all of
whom are valid comparisons on Sleeping Bee. Taylor
leads a trio of bassist Ben Tucker and drummer Grady
Tate, the same band for his 1968 session I Wish I Knew
How It Would Feel to Be Free. Now 83, Tate is the trio’s
lone survivor. Tucker, who played with everyone from
guitarist Grant Green to flutist Herbie Mann, died in
2013.
The performances are straightahead hardbop and
include memorable Taylor originals such as the
exuberant “Don’t Go Down South”, sentimental
“Theodora” and infectious blues “Bye, Y’all”. Taylor is
equally appealing on the program’s non-originals,
which range from Oscar Brown, Jr.’s “Brother, Where
Are You?” to Tin Pan Alley standards by Harry Warren
(“There Will Never Be Another You”) and Harold Arlen
(“A Sleeping Bee”).
It’s no secret that Taylor was a major admirer of
Erroll Garner, who he respected as both a pianist and
composer. And his affection for Garner’s work comes
through on an inspired performance of “Le Petite
Mambo”, a Garner blues with an AfroCuban influence.
Taylor’s improvisations acknowledge Garner’s
distinctive style, although not at the expense of his
own pianistic identity.
For more information, visit mps-music.com
Sleeping Bee
Billy Taylor (MPS-Edel)
by Alex Henderson
Dr. Billy Taylor, who was 89 when he died of a heart
attack in Manhattan five years ago on Dec. 28th, 2010,
went down in history as one of jazz’ most articulate
and passionate cheerleaders. The educator/broadcaster
knew the history of jazz inside and out and was one of
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