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''Transition'' is an album of music 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 m ...
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 brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...
, recorded in 1965 but released posthumously only in 1970. As its title indicates, ''Transition'' was a bridge between classic quartet recordings like ''
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 ...
'' and the more experimental works of Coltrane's last years. Coltrane's playing alternates between
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
idioms and the
free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
that would dominate his final work. Of the four musicians on this album, pianist
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 ...
was still the most grounded in traditional jazz. Bassist
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 ...
and drummer
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 ...
were finding new ways to approach their instruments, while Coltrane took the lead with a newfound musical freedom. ''Transitions title track is a fifteen-minute modified blues, whilst "Dear Lord" is a ballad featuring
Roy Haynes Roy Owen Haynes (born March 13, 1925) is an American jazz drummer. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career lasting over 80 years, he has played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz and is considered a pioneer of jaz ...
substituting for Jones on drums. "Welcome," which replaces "Dear Lord" on the album's
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
release, is a five-minute ballad with a theme pitched high in the tenor saxophone's
altissimo Altissimo (Italian for ''very high'') is the uppermost register on woodwind instruments. For clarinets, which overblow on odd harmonics, the altissimo notes are those based on the fifth, seventh, and higher harmonics. For other woodwinds, the alt ...
register and making extensive use of multiphonics. The closing "Suite" is a twenty-minute performance, covering a variety of moods. "Vigil", which concludes the CD release of the album, is a fiery duet between Coltrane and Jones. Three months after this recording, Coltrane's quartet moved further into experimental territory with the album '' Sun Ship''.


Reissues

The Impulse! label altered the album's track listing on the first CD edition, removing "Dear Lord" and adding "Welcome" and "Vigil" (both of which had previously appeared on '' Kulu Sé Mama''). However, the 2001 Japanese edition restored the original track listing. "Dear Lord" would later appear on the compilation '' Dear Old Stockholm''.


Reception

In his
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
review, Fred Thomas awarded the album four stars and wrote: "''Transition'' acts as a neat perforation mark between Coltrane's classic quartet and the cosmic explorations that would follow until Trane's passing in 1967... Spiritually reaching and burningly intense, the quartet is playing at full steam, but still shy of the total free exploration that would follow mere months later on records like ''Sun Ship'' and the mystical atonal darkness that came in the fall of that same year with ''Om''." The authors of ''
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled ...
'' commented: "Coltrane is plunging into something new, and leaving behind some of the ideas and some of the people who have gone this far on the journey with him... there is an endless quality to the music, a sense that there is no final destination."


Other versions of tunes

The tune "Transition" appears on the album '' Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall'' by
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
,
Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
, and
Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing style ...
. "Dear Lord" was recorded by Gary Bartz on the album ''Coltrane Rules: Tao Music Warrior''. A version of "Welcome" appears on the 1973 Santana album titled ''
Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some contexts ...
''.


Track listing

#"Transition" – 15:31 #"Dear Lord" – 5:32 #"Suite" (Prayer and Meditation: Day, Peace and After, Prayer and Meditation: Evening, Affirmation, Prayer and Meditation: 4 A.M.) – 21:20 ''Recorded on May 26 (#2) and June 10 (#1, 3), 1965.'' ''"Dear Lord" would be moved to the CD issue of '' Dear Old Stockholm'' with the rest of the sessions from that LP.''


1993 CD

#"Transition" – 15:31 #"Welcome" – 5:34 #"Suite" (Prayer and Meditation: Day, Peace and After, Prayer and Meditation: Evening, Affirmation, Prayer and Meditation: 4 A.M.) – 21:20 #"Vigil" – 9:51 ''CD track 2 and 4 not part of original LP.''


Personnel

*
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...
 – tenor saxophone *
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 ...
 – 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 ...
 – double bass *
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


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transition 1970 albums John Coltrane albums Impulse! Records albums Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio