''Expression'' is an album by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
saxophonist
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
, recorded in early 1967 and released in late September of that year, around Coltrane's birthday, and two months after his death. This was the first posthumous release of a Coltrane recording, and the last album he personally authorized.
Background and reception
All of the pieces on ''Expression'' were recorded in early 1967 at
Van Gelder Studio
The Van Gelder Studio is a recording studio at 445 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States. Following the use of his parents' home at 25 Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey, for the original studio, Rudy Van Gelder (1924– ...
in
Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.[Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...]
on piano,
Jimmy Garrison
James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
Career
Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he l ...
on bass, and
Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
Biography Early life
Patterson was born and ...
on drums. "Offering" was re-released, along with the entirety of the February 15 session, in 1995 on ''
Stellar Regions
''Stellar Regions'' is a posthumous release by John Coltrane, drawn largely from tapes discovered in 1994 by the artist's wife, Alice Coltrane, who plays the piano on the session. Alice Coltrane is also responsible for the titles of the eight nu ...
''. A week later, Coltrane and Ali recorded duo tracks that would later be released on ''
Interstellar Space
Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, predo ...
'' (1974) and ''
Jupiter Variation'' (1978). On March 7, the quartet recorded "Ogunde" and "Number One". The latter did not appear on the original LP release but was added for the CD reissue. "Number One" also appears on ''
Jupiter Variation''. The exact recording dates for the two remaining tracks is currently unknown.
"Expression" features the quartet, while "To Be" was recorded by the quartet plus
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
and possibly Algie DeWitt on bata drum. On this track, Coltrane plays alto flute, while Sanders plays flute and piccolo.
In May 1967, Coltrane, who had been suffering from liver cancer since mid-1966, and who had canceled a number of concerts that month, "spent days stretched out on a coach, listening back to his recent recording sessions."
On July 14, three days before his death, Coltrane met with producer
Bob Thiele
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
*Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname) ...
to finish plans for the album, and suggested the title ''Expression''.
Some writers have heard the music on ''Expression'' as acknowledging Coltrane's sense of his own impending death. Coltrane biographer J.C. Thomas wrote that ''Expression'' "has an eerie quality of finality, a carefully chosen musical refinement, that seems to sum up Coltrane's career, as if he knew that it might be one of his last recorded statements."
According to
Ben Ratliff
Ben Ratliff (born 1968 in New York City) is an American journalist, music critic and author.
Ratliff is the son of an English mother and an American father, growing up in London and in Rockland County, New York.
From 1996 to 2016, he wrote abo ...
, Coltrane told
Thiele that "he wanted nothing on the album's jacket but the titles and names of the musicians. No description or analysis: he was tired of words."
He also told Thiele: "By this point I don't know what else can be said in words about what I'm doing. Let the music speak for itself."
Ashley Kahn
Ashley Kahn is an American music historian, journalist, and producer. Kahn graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
In 2014, Kahn co-authored the autobiography of Carlos Santana, titled ''The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story To Light''. To dat ...
wrote that "''Expression'' serves as (Coltrane's) memorial album on the Impulse label, the thick black border on its cover lending it a sense of bereavement."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
reviewer Fred Thomas described ''Expression'' as "a varied and searching record",
and states that the band "was performing in the most spiritually reaching territory Coltrane would aspire to."
Thomas also wrote: "It's remarkable that ''Expression'' is not some world-weary harbinger of death and sickness, but an endlessly jubilant affair. Even in what must have been a time of tremendous pain and darkness, Coltrane's single-minded quest for understanding and transcendence took him to places of new exploration and light."
Biographer Eric Nisenson wrote: "The music sounds as if he had simply turned another corner in his evolution... ''Expression'' is in the tradition of his great transitional albums, ''Giant Steps'', ''Live at the Village Vanguard'', and ''Transition''. Sadly, Coltrane would not live to explore the new regions toward which his music was heading."
Track listing
All tracks written by John Coltrane; details regarding recording dates are from ''The John Coltrane Reference''.
Personnel
*
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
–
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
,
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
*
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
– flute,
piccolo
The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...
,
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
(#2 only)
*
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...
– piano
*
Jimmy Garrison
James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
Career
Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he l ...
–
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
*
Rashied Ali
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
Biography Early life
Patterson was born and ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
Production
* Victor Kalin - cover art
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Expression
1967 albums
Impulse! Records albums
John Coltrane albums
Albums produced by Bob Thiele
Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
Albums published posthumously