John Coltrane Quartet

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John Coltrane Quartet
General information
Genre (s) Modern jazz
founding 1959 to 1960
resolution 1965
Last occupation
saxophone
 John Coltrane
piano
 McCoy Tyner
bass
 Jimmy Garrison
Drums
 Elvin Jones
former members
bass
 Reggie Workman (until 1961)
bass
 Steve Davis (until 1960)
piano
 Steve Kuhn (until 1960)

The John Coltrane Quartet , also known as the classic John Coltrane Quartet , is a jazz band that existed in the early 1960s under the direction of saxophonist John Coltrane .

The development of the band from 1959 to 1965

In 1959, the saxophonist John Coltrane moved to the record label Atlantic Records ; here he had more opportunities to influence the design of his albums than was possible with Prestige Records . The final breakthrough came with the album Giant Steps , which was mostly recorded in the spring of 1959, and his participation in the Kind of Blue album by Miles Davis . Coltrane wanted to form its own group; the musicians he wanted to play with were initially all committed to something else: McCoy Tyner , who was familiar with his musical concept, Art Davis and Elvin Jones .

Ultimately, the John Coltrane Quartets are to be viewed more or less as a transition until the end of 1959; you can still feel the powerful influence of his familiar Miles Davis environment. The total abandonment was not to take place until 1960. "Secured by the contract with Atlantic, he could allow himself to try out different line-ups." By the turn of the year 1959/1960 Coltrane experimented with different quartet formations. He had played with bassists Ahmed Abdul-Malik , George Tucker and Paul Chambers and drummers such as Art Taylor , Lex Humphries and Jimmy Cobb . The situation was also difficult with the pianists: after working with Wynton Kelly , Tommy Flanagan and Cedar Walton and considering switching to Bobby Timmons , he engaged the pianist Steve Kuhn , the bass player, for a multi-week performance in the New York Jazz Gallery in 1960 Steve Davis and drummer Pete LaRoca .

It was not until September 1960 that he was able to commit McCoy Tyner. Steve Davis stayed on bass until the end of 1960; then Reggie Workman and Art Davis , who preferred a job as a studio musician in the NBC orchestra, alternated until Jimmy Garrison should finally join the group in November 1961 - during his guest appearance at New York's Village Vanguard . Choosing a drummer was just as difficult; Pete LaRoca was followed by Billy Higgins in September 1960 and finally Elvin Jones in October 1960 , who would usher in a new era of drumming with his polyrhythmic playing.

With the line-up of John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, “one of the most dreamy groups in modern jazz emerged for a certain period of time,” wrote the Coltrane biographers Filtgen and Ausserbauer. "Until Coltrane turned to free jazz , she influenced jazz of the sixties in all directions." After a European tour with Miles Davis in 1960, his successful album My Favorite Things was created in October , recorded with bassist Steve Davis. Coltrane was released in 1962 as the first (full) album of his "classical quartet" . This was followed by the legendary Coltrane LPs John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman 1963, Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album and Blue World (both published posthumously), Crescent and A Love Supreme 1964, The John Coltrane Quartet Plays 1965, recorded. For record projects such as Ascension or Kulu Sé Mama , Coltrane expanded the quartet formation to include musicians such as Freddie Hubbard , Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders ; The latter was then to expand the quartet into a quintet from 1965. Drummer Elvin Jones was also occasionally represented by Roy Haynes ; the tracks with Haynes were then compiled on the Dear Old Stockholm album . With Coltrane's turn to free jazz, pianist McCoy Tyner left the group after the album Meditations in November 1965; his place was then taken by Coltrane's second wife Alice Coltrane , first heard at the second Village Vanguard concert in May 1966 ( Live at the Village Vanguard Again! ). Elvin Jones' successor was Rashied Ali . Only the bassist Jimmy Garrison remained connected to Coltrane until his last concerts ( The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording ) in April 1967.

A complete edition of the studio recordings of the "classical quartet" was published in 1998 under the title The Classic Quartet - Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings published in an edition with 8 CDs in 20-bit super mapping .

Overview of the different quartet line-ups

  • Mar. 26, 1959 - Coltrane, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, Lex Humphries
  • 4th / 5th May 05, 1959 - Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor ( Giant Steps )
  • Nov. 24 and December 2, 1959 - Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb ( Coltrane Jazz )
  • Dec. 21, 1961 - Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones ( Ballads )
  • September 2, 1965 - Last recordings in the classical quartet line-up (Coltrane, Tyner, Garrison, Jones) for the album First Meditations (For Quartet) (Impulse 9332)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kenny Mathieson Giant Steps: Bebop and The Creators Of Modern Jazz, 1945-65
  2. ↑ Ralf Dombrowski : Basis-Diskothek Jazz (= Reclams Universal-Bibliothek. No. 18372). Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018372-3 , p. 53.
  3. ^ Lewis Porter John Coltrane: His Life and Music University of Michigan Press 1998, pp. 171ff.
  4. ↑ See Filtgen / Auserbauer, pp. 30 f
  5. ↑ Giant Steps, (alternate), Naima (alternate), Like Sonny (alternate)
  6. ↑ Spiral, Countdown, Syeeda's Song Flute, Mr. PC, Cousin Mary.
  7. ^ I'll Wait and Pray, Little Old Lady (November 24, 1959) & Like Sonny, Harmonique, My Shining Hour , Naima, Some Other Blues, Fifth House