Naima (jazz track)

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Naima is a jazz composition by John Coltrane from 1959.

The title

Naima is a ballad in the AABA form composed by John Coltrane in 1959 , with the B part consisting of three parts according to the pattern b'b'b ". Coltrane dedicated the piece to his first wife, Juanita" Naima "Coltrane (1923- 1996, née Grubbs), with whom he was married from 1955 to 1963.

The first recording of the piece took place on March 26, 1959. First released, however, was a later recording of Naima , which Coltrane recorded for his Giant Steps album on Atlantic Records on December 2, 1959 with Wynton Kelly , Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb . The piece was played at a slow, drawn out tempo, with a short piano solo by Kelly. Coltrane biographer Lewis Porter points out that the bass lines of the composition were carefully rehearsed by Coltrane and Chambers, as can be studied especially on the first recording.

“Naima” became one of Coltrane's most famous titles; he recorded it several times in the sequence and also played it at many live concerts. Da Coltrane when he joined the jazz label Impulse! Records was changed, Naima was not allowed to play again in 1961 for contractual reasons, he turned the tune around, called it "Amain" and played it in his performances with Eric Dolphy in November 1961 at New York jazz club Village Vanguard , published in the edition The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings . During his tours in 1962, the "romantic and longing ballad" (Polillo) underwent the first changes, as can be heard on the live album Afro Blue Impressions from 1963, until finally in 1966 the title melody was played only briefly and then in one expansive version ( Live at the Village Vanguard Again! ) to be interpreted in a very free interpretation by Coltrane's sextet. According to Lewis Porter, the piece became one of his most famous pieces; Coltrane himself thought it was his best composition (until he wrote Wise One ) but did not want to play it at every concert.

"Naima" was recorded by Archie Shepp on his album Four for Trane during Coltrane's lifetime ; after Coltrane's death in 1967, the title was given numerous other interpretations and became a jazz standard . The title was subsequently repeatedly used by Coltrane's longtime companion McCoy Tyner (first on Echoes of a Friend , 1972), by John McLaughlin (on the 1973 album Love Devotion Surrender with Carlos Santana ), and again on his album After The Rain (1995 ), also by Maynard Ferguson (1979), Pharoah Sanders ( Crescent With Love , 1992), David Murray / Dave Burrell (1993), and Arthur Blythe (2001). Mark Levine pointed out that, unlike other pieces by Coltrane, the composition shows some of the qualities of the ballads of the Great American Song Book .

Discographic notes

  • John Coltrane: The Heavyweight Champion- The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1959/60), Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960)
  • John Coltrane: The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (Impulse !, 1961)
  • John Coltrane: The European Tour (Pablo, 1962); Afro Blue Impressions (Pablo, 1963)
  • John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard Again! (Impulse !, 1966)

literature

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Recorded with Cedar Walton , Paul Chambers, and Lex Humphries in New York City, Atlantic Studios. Other alternate takes of this version appeared on the edition The Heavyweight Champion - The Complete Atlantic Recordings .
  2. ^ A b Lewis Porter John Coltrane: His Life and Music University of Michigan Press 1998, p. 156
  3. ↑ cit. according to Trombone forum about "Naima" ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tromboneforum.org