At the end of his two-year contract with Atlantic Records—his first as a bandleader in his own right—John Coltrane signed with Creed Taylor at Impulse Records, a brand new contemporary jazz imprint formed by ABC Records, and immediately went into the recording studio with the Quartet, Eric Dolphy and a large orchestra arranged and directed by McCoy Tyner and Dolphy. Actualy their first date, at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs NJ on May 23, 1961, was made two days before the Ole Coltrane session for Atlantic on May 25, with the ensemble comprising Freddie Hubbard & Booker Little on trumpets; Jim Buffington, Donald Carrado, Bob Northern, Robert Swisshelm, and Julius Watkins (French horns); Charles Greenlee & Julian Priester (euphoniums); Bill Barber (tuba); John Coltrane (soprano & tenor saxophones); Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, arranger, conductor); Pat Patrick (baritone saxophone); Garvin Bushell (reeds); McCoy Tyner (piano, arranger); Reggie Workman & Paul Chambers (bass), Elvin Jones (drums); Romulus Franceschini (conductor); and Cal Massey (arranger). They completed the recording on June 7, 1961 with some personnel changes, and we’ll hear the master takes plus an alternative take of the title track to kick off this episode.
The John Sinclair Foundation Presents
AFRICA/BRASS
ANCESTOR WORSHIP 76
John Sinclair, Fly Agaric 23 Studio, Amsterdam, January 8, 2014 [18027]
Charlie Parker: Another Hairdo
John Coltrane Orchestra: Africa (first version)
John Coltrane Orchestra: Blues Minor
John Coltrane Orchestra: Greensleeves
John Coltrane Orchestra: The Damned Don’t Cry
John Coltrane Orchestra: Africa
A JOINT PRODUCTION
Hosted by John Sinclair for Radio Free Amsterdam
Produced, recorded, edited & assembled by John Sinclair
Executive Producer: Steve Pratt
Special thanks to Steve The Fly
© 2014, 2018 The John Sinclair Foundation