''Live in Paris'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

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 ...

musician

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 ...

originally issued as 2 separate volumes in 1974 by BYG Japan and later reissued on CD by

Charly Records Charly Records is a British record label that specialises in reissued material. Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. History Charly Records was founded in Fra ...

Background

''Live in Paris'' was recorded in the middle of one of Coltrane's busiest summers. On June 28, 1965, he recorded the groundbreaking album '' Ascension'', followed by '' New Thing at Newport'' four days later. This was followed by a two-week double bill with

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

's quartet at the

Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago school (architec ...

from July 6–18. Coltrane and his quartet then embarked on a one-week tour of Europe, playing at the sixth International Jazz Festival at Juan-les-Pins in

Antibes, France Antibes (, also , ; oc, label= Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France, on the Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is in the commune of Antibes and the Sop ...

on July 26 and 27, followed by a concert at the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

in Paris on July 28, and winding up with a performance at a jazz festival in Comblain-la-Tour, Belgium on August 1. The July 26 concert, on which Coltrane shared billing with

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, United States, McGriff started playing pi ...

, featured his only live performance of ''

A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy ...

'', a 48-minute version which took up the entire program. (A recording of this concert appears on the 2002 Deluxe Edition and the 2015 Super Deluxe Edition of ''A Love Supreme''.) The following day, at the request of the festival, Coltrane performed material that was more familiar to the audience. The versions of "Naima" and "Impressions" on ''Live in Paris'' were recorded that day. The remaining tracks, "Blue Valse", "Afro-Blue", and a second version of "Impressions", were recorded at the July 28 concert in Paris. ("Blue Valse" is actually a quartet version of "Ascension", and was mis-titled due to a miscommunication with concert personnel.) Some of the music recorded in France during the tour was also released in 1988 on '' Live in Antibes''. The July–August 1965 tour marked Coltrane's last appearance in Europe. On the tour, during breaks, Coltrane frequently "remained... in his hotel room, practicing as usual, playing along to a tape of an lbertAyler concert."

Reception

In a review for

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 ...

, Stephen Cook wrote that ''Live in Paris'' shows Coltrane "dismissing solo structure in favor of volcanic flights", and said that his performance on "Naima" was "one of his most beautiful and emotionally bare solos." He stated: "This disc provides a valuable document of Coltrane's playing during a fertile and protean period (one of many)."

Track listing

Original CD release (mastered from a vinyl source) ''Live in Paris'' (Affinity CHARLY 87). # "Naima" - 7:14 # "Impressions" - 11:18 # "Blue Valse” - 22:42 # "Afro-Blue” - 11:01 # "Impressions” - 16:15 Tracks 1 and 2 were recorded on July 27, 1965 at the Antibes Jazz Festival. Tracks 3, 4, and 5 were recorded on July 28, 1965 at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, France.

Personnel

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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 ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gram ...

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piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Jimmy Garrison —

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

—

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Live In Paris John Coltrane live albums 1965 live albums Charly Records live albums Albums recorded at Jazz à Juan