Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
Studio album by John Coltrane

Publication
(s)

June 29, 2018

admission

March 6, 1963

Label (s) Impulses! Records

Format (s)

CD , LP

Genre (s)

Modal jazz , post-bop

Title (number)

7/14

occupation

production

Bob Thiele , Harry Weinger, Ken Druker, Ravi Coltrane

Studio (s)

Van Gelder Studio , Englewood Cliffs

chronology
Chasing Trane - The John Coltrane Documentary (Original Soundtrack)
(2017) 		Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album Blue World
(2019)
John Coltrane on his arrival at Schiphol Airport in 1963 . Right Michiel de Ruyter

Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album is a jazz album by John Coltrane that was recorded on March 6, 1963 in Englewood Cliffs , New Jersey . After being rediscovered after 55 years, it was published by Impulse on June 29, 2018 ! Records as a single CD or LP, in an expanded form also as a double album . Sonny Rollins compared the appearance of the tapes with it as if a new chamber had been found in the pyramid of Cheops .

background

The one-day session that captures the album was so called with Coltrane's Classic Quartet been included duty system: In addition to John Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophone played in Rudy Van Gelder's studio Jimmy Garrison (bass), Elvin Jones (drums) and McCoy Tyner ( Piano). The tapes of the recording remained in the studio at the time and, according to Spiegel , were supposedly simply forgotten at first.

According to another narrative , the master tapes by Both Directions at Once were probably the victims of “collective stinginess and myopia.” After the Impulse! After moving to the west coast of the USA in 1967, the collection of the master tapes was stored. At the beginning of the 1970s, when the business of the parent label ABC was no longer running smoothly, the company management decided to dispose of tapes from recordings that had remained unpublished for reasons of cost. So the master tapes from the Coltrane session probably ended up in the trash.

Coltrane took home a copy of the footage. This reference copy in mono could not be found after his death. It was only last year that the family of his first wife Juanita Naima (1923–1996, nee Grubbs) discovered this tape in the widow's estate and gave it impetus! Records. One of Coltrane's sons from his second marriage, Ravi Coltrane , supervised the production and reconstructed the sequence that his father had probably had in mind. Accordingly, at the time of the recording, his father was " with one foot in the past and one foot headed towards his future ", to which the album title refers.

The album contains the only studio version of "Impressions" so far, the long "Slow Blues" and the ballad "Nature Boy". There are also two unknown pieces on the album, named after the band numbers, "Untitled Original 11383" (a blues on the soprano saxophone ) and "Untitled Original 11386", a reference to Coltrane's version of the musical hit " My Favorite Things ". According to Lewis Porter it is reminiscent of this in its structural design; but he also thinks it possible that it came from McCoy Tyner. With “Vilia” Coltrane refers to the song of the same name from Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow (1905). The album closes with “One Up, One Down”, which so far only existed in a bootleg recording from New York's Birdland , but not as a studio version. The Coltrane classic Impressions did not yet have a title on the box of the recordings that have now been found. There are four takes. In the same year 1963, the album of the same name, Impressions, was released on Impulse with a live recording from the Village Vanguard from November 1961.

Both Directions at Once was created during a very productive period of Coltrane and his quartet; during this time the band recorded ballads and impressions ; also an album with Duke Ellington . During the session, the Coltrane Quartet had a two-week engagement at the Birdland jazz club in New York ; one day after the studio appointment another impulse session followed Coltranes ( John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman ) with the singer Johnny Hartman . The recording dates of the Coltrane-Hartman album are often given as March 6 and 7, 1963, but it was also known in Coltrane literature that further recordings were made on March 6 without Hartman. After Ashley Kahn , Coltrane recorded a lot for Impulse, which was not necessarily published immediately, so that even Coltrane lost track. Bob Thiele supported him against the record bosses and secretly went to the studio with him at night. Thiele suggested more popular projects every now and then (this is how the recordings with Ellington and Hartman were made), but the final decision about the musical material was always made by the star of the Coltrane label. A problem for Thiele was that Coltrane was almost never satisfied with a first recording and pushed for several takes for each piece, which was also the case with the now discovered session on March 6th. Two days earlier, McCoy Tyner recorded his trio album Nights of Ballads and Blues in the same studio of Rudy van Gelder .

This wasn't the first time Coltrane's unpublished material from his Impulse years has surfaced, and has to do with the fate of the master tapes of the recordings. A first thorough search for unpublished Coltrane material in the Impulse archives at ABC was carried out by Michael Cuscuna in 1978, which was reflected in a number of publications. According to Cuscuna, the archives were in a bad state at the time , but he often had to work with second or third generation master tapes. Actually, after Coltrane's death, Thiele had given all of the master tapes to Alice Coltrane (and he had additional copies of all recordings made with Coltrane). Thiele was aware that recordings could easily disappear or be destroyed in the label archives, and he saw this as a measure to preserve Coltrane's work. However, according to a common practice with some large labels with adequate financial resources, two master tapes existed. He gave the second tapes to his former high school in New Jersey in the early 1990s, from where they came to the Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, which made them available to the Impulse successor, Verve (which led to deluxe editions in 2002 by Ballads and Coltrane ). At an auction in New York in 2005, 33 original tapes from Coltrane sessions were auctioned at Impulse, including from the Coltrane Hartman session, unused studio recordings for impressions and an unpublished recording session of the quartet on March 6th, i.e. the day before the Hartman session. Admission. The tapes were owned by Coltrane's kin in Philadelphia.

Track list

Standard version

page 1
1. Untitled Original 11383 - 5:41
2. Nature Boy ( Eden Ahbez ) - 3:23
3. Untitled Original 11386 - 8:38
4. Vilia ( Franz Lehár ) - 5:32
Page 2
5. Impressions - 4:31
6. Slow Blues - 11:26
7. One Up, One Down - 7:58

Deluxe version

page 1
1. Untitled Original 11383 (Take 1) - 5:41
2. Nature Boy ( Eden Ahbez ) - 3:24
3. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 1) - 8:43
4. Vilia (Take 3) ( Franz Lehár ) - 5:33
Page 2
5. Impressions (Take 3) - 4:36
6. Slow Blues - 11:29
7. One Up, One Down (Take 1) - 8:02
Page 3
8. Vilia (Take 5) ( Franz Lehár ) - 4:37
9. Impressions (Take 1) - 4:07
10. Impressions (Take 2) - 4:38
11. Impressions (Take 4) - 3:40
page 4
12. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 2) - 8:41
13. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 5) - 8:23
14. One Up, One Down (Take 6) - 7:18

reception

source rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone
The Guardian
All about jazz
Laut.de

For the British Guardian, the session captures John Coltrane at a crossroads in his career; two years before Ascension , in which he opened his quartet for an experimental, spiritually-oriented big band , he was already heading in the direction of free jazz sounds as early as 1963 . Also Impressions (1963) contained some rough solos on, which are completely different from the previous nor the Bebop dominated era. Nonetheless, he was still fond of melodies during this period, as heard in one of his more accessible albums Ballads (1963). “Untitled Original 11386” also shows the quartet in a traditional style, in which a melodic chorus is picked up between the two solos. The album contains Coltrane's first version of the song "Nature Boy" known from Nat King Cole and is - in contrast to the freer version from 1965 (on The John Coltrane Quartet Plays ) - a straightforward, three-minute take without solos.

Ben Ratliff, author of Coltrane: the Story of a Sound said:

“This is Coltrane with his quartet entering the final phase of their stable and decisive phase, in which they often interpreted the same handful of songs. There is no concept or great design here. But he tries out a few new songs, plays an idiosyncratic blues and a well-coordinated version of Impressions - and that's a lot. "
This is Coltrane's quartet starting to move into the last stages of their stable and authoritative phase, when they were often playing the same handful of songs. There's no concept or grand design here. But he's trying some new tunes, and playing a strange blues, and fine-tuning Impressions - and that's a lot.
Elvin Jones on arrival at Schiphol Airport in 1963. Right Michiel de Ruyter

For Wayne Shorter , who was interviewed for the album's liner notes , the title Both Directions at Once refers to a compositional recommendation that Coltrane gave him ( about starting a sentence in the middle, and then going to the beginning and the end of it at the same time. ) The Guardian's jazz critic, John Fordham , however, sees a different meaning: “Coltrane looked back at the bebop - the virtuosity and melodic resources that he had stretched to the limit - and the song -based lyricism of jazz, which he was exploring with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman at the time . But he also looked ahead by imagining more intense, mantra- like, spiritually driven music, which eventually culminated in A Love Supreme in 1964. "The Guardian rated the album" Jazz Album of the Month ".

The Rolling Stone awarded four and a half out of five points, but admitted that one should not expect a masterpiece like Blue Train or A Love Supreme ; it is better to see the album as a key document for the quartet's transition to a new stage.

Evan Parker said in an interview that the publication was very welcome, that it was the "classical quartet" with which Coltrane presented his best work. Parker particularly highlighted Coltrane's interaction with Elvin Jones; that is "the core of this music ... that reaches astonishing degrees of intuitive understanding".

In his review of the album in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Andrian Kreye particularly emphasized the "slow blues"; it shows "what power Coltrane's musical intellect developed". The blues has always been a challenge for modernists, “because it is difficult to break out of the simple form in such a way that it remains. On this recording, Coltrane fires an improvisation on the scheme for eleven minutes, briefly interrupted only by a Tyner solo, which acts like a pit stop for his over-revving synapses. ”The ballad“ Nature Boy ”, probably“ a concession to contemporary tastes ”, plays Coltrane "with a lot of delicacy". The hitherto unknown track “Untitled Original 11383” is “a penetrating blues on the soprano”, with “One Up, One Down” “Coltrane shoots again from the bop into the stratosphere of freedom”.

After Giovanni Russonello, one of the eight quartet albums was the Coltrane on Impulse! published, previously only two, Crescent (1964) and Coltrane (1962), which handed down the live ethos of the classical quartet , and with the first publication now presented, a third example.

Reinhard Köchl mused in the time of the date of the session:

“Why he drove to Rudy van Gelder's studios in Englewood Cliffs, on the other side of the Hudson, despite his busy schedule, can only be guessed at. Perhaps he just followed his instincts, suspecting that at that very moment he had probably reached the height of his artistry that absolutely had to be documented. "

Hans-Jürgen Schaal , on the other hand, assesses the album more soberly: “It is a great pleasure to hear these four masters with unused tones and runs, their fresh, confident directness in making music, which today seems no longer possible in jazz. But you don't have to rewrite the jazz books straight away. "

Chart positions and awards

With Both Directions at Once , a Coltrane album was among the US Billboard Top 40 for the first time ; it reached position 21 on the charts. In Germany, the album was at the top of the German jazz charts for two months in July and August 2018 and also took first place in the jazz annual charts at the end of the year, making the album the most widely sold jazz product on the German music market in 2018. In addition, Both Directions at Once reached the top of the German vinyl charts for a month . The album won the 2018 Reader's Poll from JazzTimes magazine in the Historical / Vault / Reissue Release category . in the list of winners in National Public Radio's 2010s NPR Jazz Critics Poll , the album won in the Rare Avis category ahead of Miles Davis & John Coltrane, The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 , Eric Dolphy , Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions , The Savory Collection 1935–1940 and Charles Mingus , Jazz in Detroit / Strata Concert Gallery / 46 Selden .

Editor's note

Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album was released in both a single CD edition (with seven tracks) and a luxury edition, which also contains seven alternate takes , about two other versions of Impressions .

The title "Vilia" was previously published in 1965 on the Impulse compilation The Definitive Jazz Scene Vol. 3 (A-9101). It's the only track that's been released before.

Web links / sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g 'A new room in the Great Pyramid': lost 1963 John Coltrane album discovered. The Guardian , June 8, 2018, accessed June 8, 2018 .
  2. ↑ John Coltrane's album rediscovered after 55 years. Der Spiegel, June 8, 2018, accessed June 8, 2018 .
  3. ↑ JD Considine: Coltrane's 'Lost' 1963 Studio Album Found. Down Beat , June 8, 2018, accessed June 8, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Andrian Kreye : The Fund Süddeutsche Zeitung from 9./10. June 2018, p. 16
  5. ↑ Ian Kaplan: John Coltrane: Lost 1963 recording will be released as album. The Independent , June 7, 2018, accessed June 7, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Lewis Porter, quoted by Russonello, Lost John Coltrane Recording From 1963 Will Be Released at Last, The New York Times, June 6, 2018
  7. ↑ Russonello New York Times, June 7, 2018
  8. ↑ The album is also a typical example of the compilation of Coltrane albums at Impulse, as it also contains a studio recording from April 29, 1963. Other parts of the studio session turned up at an auction in New York in 2005.
  9. ^ JC Thomas, Chasing the Bird, Da Capo 1976, p. 249
  10. ↑ Only the Vilia recording mentioned below was published. Lewis Porter, John Coltrane, University of Michigan Press 1999, p. 369, notes in Coltrane's chronology that recordings were made in the Rudy van Gelder studio on March 6, which were only partially published, and the recordings with Johnny Hartman on Originated on March 7th.
  11. ^ Kahn, Impulse - The label that Coltrane created, Roger and Bernhard 2007, p. 112. There, Bob Thiele is quoted.
  12. ↑ Represented in Ashley Kahn, Impulse, p. 310ff
  13. ^ Ashley Kahn, Impulse, p. 310
  14. ^ Kahn, Impulse, p. 313
  15. ↑ Ashley Kahn was not entirely clear how they got there, but he suspected just as little as with the tapes by Bob Thiele.
  16. ↑ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com (accessed June 25, 2018)
  17. ↑ Review by Hank Shteamer on rollingstone.com (accessed June 27, 2018)
  18. ↑ Review by John Fordham on theguardian.com (accessed June 29, 2018)
  19. ↑ Review by Mike Jurkovic on allaboutjazz.com (accessed June 29, 2018)
  20. ↑ Review by Ulf Kubanke on laut.de (accessed June 29, 2018)
  21. ↑ Jazz album of the month - John Coltrane: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
  22. ↑ John Coltrane's New 'Lost Album' Captures a Day in the Life of His Greatest Band , Rolling Stone
  23. ↑ Giovanni Russonello, Lost John Coltrane Recording From 1963 Will Be Released at Last , The New York Times, June 6, 2018
  24. ↑ Reinhard Köchl: The master, ready to take off. Die Zeit , July 4, 2018, accessed on July 4, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Schaal: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album. Jazz thing , September 24, 2018, accessed September 27, 2018 .
  26. ↑ John Coltrane Earns First Billboard Top 40 Entry With 'The Lost Album. Forbes, July 10, 2018, accessed March 24, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Tim Peacock: 'Both Directions At Once' Yields John Coltrane's Highest Ever Global Chart Success. udiscovermusic.com, July 10, 2018, accessed March 24, 2019 .
  28. ↑ GfK Jazz Charts July 2018 . ( Memento from August 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) jazzecho.de, accessed on May 13, 2020.
  29. ↑ GfK Jazz Charts August 2018 . ( Memento from September 24, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) jazzecho.de, accessed on May 13, 2020.
  30. ↑ gfk Entertainment: John Coltrane's “Lost Album” tops the 2018 annual jazz charts. officialcharts.de, December 18, 2018, accessed on May 8, 2020 .
  31. ↑ John Coltrane - Both Directions at Once - The Lost Album. officialcharts.de, accessed on April 12, 2019 .
  32. ↑ 2018 Readers' Poll Results. JazzTimes, January 31, 2019, accessed February 10, 2019 .
  33. ^ Francis Davis: The 2018 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. National Public Radio, January 5, 2019, accessed March 24, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Lost John Coltrane Album Resurfaces. Impulses! to release March '63 session as "Both Directions at Once" on June 29. JazzTimes , June 8, 2018, accessed June 8, 2018 .
  35. ↑ The Definitive Jazz Scene Volume 3 at Discogs