Word: jazzing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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First, a warning: for those not already jazz fans, or even for those who are but are not familiar with Coltrane's music, this collection is not an ideal introduction. Box sets, with their limited focus and substantial price, are meant for dedicated fans. If anything, "Village Vanguard" is even more demanding of its listeners for several reasons: it documents only a fiveday period and represents only nine different compositions (there are multiple versions of most songs) in its four-and-a-half hour span. And because it is a live jazz recording, the musicians take artistic risks and extend...
...just changed recording labels and had only recently settled on a brilliant rhythm section featuring pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones. Coltrane's style and musical conception never stopped changing throughout his career, and these recordings reflect a serious departure from the structures and techniques of mainstream jazz of the time. Complex, static song structures were inhibiting what Coltrane wanted to do musically and he began looking towards Eastern ethnic music for influence. Coltrane began to experiment with instrumentation to dramatic effect, using bass clarinet, contrabassoon, oboe, oud and a second bass in different combinations...
Bowie was aided tremendously by the sheer skill of his backing musicians. The band-in Bowie's opinion, his best band in over two decades-has now been playing long enough together to develop a real sense of coherence and musical unity. Particular highlights included Mike Garson's short, jazz-inflected keyboard solos, and the startling firepower of Reeves Gabrels' guitar...
Then there are the covers: versions of the British folk song "Greensleeves" and the Broadway-musical-derived "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" demonstrate Coltrane's skills as a jazz interpreter of any musical style. "Greensleeves," with its waltz meter and harmonic simplification, is very reminiscent of Coltrane's previous recording of "My Favorite Things." "Softly" is the most accessible recording of this collection-a light, bouncy, catchy performance that is perhaps Tyner's best opportunity to showcase his fleet, lyrical soloing...
...recording can never be an ideal way to listen to jazz, because an integral part of that musical idiom is witnessing the spontaneous creations of the artist unfold before you-live. But these recordings come as close to transcending that limitation as seems possible. The live setting reinforces the very palpable sense that Coltrane is holding back nothing in expressing himself through his horn. Even if one doesn't fully "understand" the music-and perhaps no one can-its emotional power will be immediately apparent.Photo courtesy of MCA RecordsA new set of Coltrane's recordings presents the artist live...