Artist.......: John Coltrane's "Africa / Brass" Revisited with Dal Sasso Big
Album........: Jazz α La Villette
Label........: n/a
Genre........: Jazz
Catnr........: n/a
Source.......: DVBS
Rip.date.....: 2021-06-13
Str.date.....: 2020-09-11
Quality......: 223kbps/48.0kHz/Joint Stereo
Url..........: http://www.johncoltrane.com/
track title time
1. Jazz α La Villette 77:47
* Tunji
* Green Sleeves
* Blues Minor
* Africa
* You Don't Know What Love Is
* Liberia
* Song Of The Underground Railroad
Runtime 77:47
Size 124.18
Release Notes:
An essential and unique chapter in the Coltrane legacy
On Africa/Brass, Coltrane isn't revolutionizing Jazz, at least not on the
surface of things. He's not taking his music in any radical new directions
through experimentation or wild innovation, but rather exploring familiar
territory in an unfamiliar manner, taking familiar elements to make an album
that's in one sense lean and understated and in another expansive, bold and
flamboyant. It's fitting that minimalist composer Steve Reich should have been a
fan, describing it as "basically a half-an-hour in F." While that's a bit of an
oversimplification, Africa/Brass does rely heavily on extended jams in just one
or two chords, an influence taken from traditional African music. But where
Coltrane's genius shines on this album, and what makes it unique in his
discography, is in melding the bare bones structure of the music with the
roaring swing of Big Band Jazz in a way that had never been heard in Big Band
music before, and which Coltrane wouldn't explore again until Ascension, 5 years
later.
The title track takes up the entire first half of the album, and stands as one
of Coltrane's greatest works. It can be described as a song where nothing is
really going on while everything is happening at once. Throughout its various
permutations, from dusky and moody to explosive and celebratory, it remains
anchored by the one chord drone of the bass, twisting and turning in mood,
exploring the endless possibilities of that one chord without ever seeming
monotonous or creatively exhausted. Despite the Big Band ensemble, the music is
surprisingly given plenty of room to breathe; with a limited number of solos,
the ensemble (tightly arranged and conducted by Eric Dolphy) plays with
precision and purpose, leaving Coltrane and the other members of his core group
free to work their magic. It's an endlessly impressive listen that, despite its
16 minute length, leaves the listener wanting more by its end. Speaking of the
bass, Africa/Brass uniquely utilizes two double basses on the title track, one
fingerpicked and one bowed to incredible effect.
The other two tracks of the album, while more than solid and able to stand with
all but the very best of Coltrane's output struggle to live up to the titanic
title track. On Greensleeves Coltrane relies on his talent for taking a
familiar, well-worn melody and making it unique and special in that way only
Coltrane could do. The structure of the song was by this point familiar to those
paying attention to Coltrane's discography, and it's not quite the tour de force
that was My Favorite Things, but it's a weighty, endlessly enjoyable reimagining
of the old classic, featuring some spectacular drum work from Elvin Jones. Final
track Blues Minor unfortunately resides in the shadow of Africa as well, which
is a shame because it feature some great soloing from 'Trane and the rest of the
group. It's on Blues minor that the other players are really given room to let
their soloing chops shine over a slamming hard bop tune.
The album being more arranged than the typical Coltrane release means that
overall the soloing seems a little less lively and spontaneneous than some of
his other greats, to the detriment of the 2 tracks that aren't Africa, but the
greater focus on structure creates a sense of atmosphere unique in Coltrane's
discography. There were albums where 'Trane's music seemed transcendent, not of
this earth, moving on a spiritual plane unknown to lesser mortals, (including
his other Big Band offering Ascension) but Africa/Brass is a deeply earthy, rich
and vibrant take on his unique style aided greatly by the warm production of
Creed Taylor. If you're just dipping your toes in Coltrane's music, hold off on
A Love Supreme for a bit, at least until you jam this at least a couple times.