A FIERY SET BY THE JOHN COLTRANE QUINTET IN HELSINKI, FEATUR
RBSProds | Deep in the heart of Texas | 10/09/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Five IMPRESSIVE Stars!! John Coltrane, the late, great jazz saxophone genius who continues to be one of the most influential forces in the history of modern jazz, and other musical genres as well, is absolutely on fire with his quintet in Helsinki Finland. The other players in this 1961 set include 'reed master supreme' Eric Dolphy on alto sax and flute; the influential McCoy Tyner on piano; Reggie Workman on bass; and Elvin Jones on drums who also was a great influence on drummers with his poly-rhythmic technique. This recording also has bonus tracks of Coltrane performing with Miles Davis' 1961 rhythm section live in Dusseldorf Germany, which consisted of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul (Mr PC) Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. The quintet has hot, 'free-roaming' Coltrane and blazing, 'angular' Dolphy running the chord changes and using compositional 'modes' to extend their thematic solos, but this is not 'The New Thing' or late-period 'celestial' Coltrane. The MIles Davis rhythm section is in wonderful form and Trane scorches the set with great "sheets of sound" runs.
The quintet set has 4 Coltrane 'standards': a sizzling "Impressions", a 20 minute beautifully intense "My Favorite Things" (with a sensational Dolphy flute solo), "Blue Trane", and a touching "I Want To Talk About You". Coltrane, at the top of his game throughout, employs many of the musical weapons from his bag of tricks at that time, including "sheets of sound", overblowing his reed, declarative convoluted phrasing, and 'the Coltrane cry'. Messrs Dolphy, Tyner, Jones and Workman are likewise excellent in solo and 'comping'. Unfortunately the sound is not up to 'Rudy Van Gelder standards', tending to lose Reggie Workman's pizzicato work at times, but not his arco solos.
"On Green Dolphin Street" has a marvelous Wyn Kelly out of tempo rhapsodic introduction and solo, each leading to blazingly lyrical solos by Trane using his yearning sound and 'the cry'. This is a clear demonstration of the sound and technique that would heavily influence future sax stars like Charles Lloyd and Michael Brecker, until they broke free to find their own sound. Also "Walkin' '' is performed superbly and we get a full 3 and a half minutes of "The Theme" which is usually heard briefly on Miles' recordings. My Highest Recommendation, sound problems aside: this is too good to miss ! Five HUGE Stars !!
(Notes:
*Audio CD: 64:40 total time, acceptable but not great sound.
* This recording has 4 musicians who were later elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame: Coltrane, Dolphy, Tyner, and Elvin Jones.)"
Tape speed too slow
Michael McDermid | Vancovuer, BC | 03/30/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"A poor recording of a good concert of a great group. Tape speed is too slow... bootleg versions are much better. Earlier session is interesting but poor sound quality makes it difficult to listen to."
Well Flawed
Mad bin Tod | Ireland, TX USA | 04/18/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"As one reviewer has already pointed out, the speed on this recording is off, which means it runs a mite slowly. I've listened to a lot of bootleg recordings over the years, so I have a high tolerance for low fidelity. In edition to being slowed up, the sound quality is pretty muddy - though, the horns are right up front. That being said, I like how this sounds - the slowness fattens the tone in a cool way, to my ears anyway.
Also note, the "rare" "bonus tracks" on this deal can be found on the Naxos "Jazz Icons' DVD "John Coltrane: Live in '60, '61, & '63."Jazz Icons: John Coltrane Live in '60, '61 & '65 The sound quality on the DVD is better than on this CD and plus you get to see the tunes played."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1