Live in Japan (John Coltrane album)
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''Live in Japan'' is a
live 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 ...
by American saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded for radio broadcast during his only Japanese tour in July 1966 at two Tokyo venues, Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall and
Sankei Hall Sankei Hall was a multi-purpose auditorium located in Ōtemachi, Tokyo, Japan. Notable past performers include Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, B.B. King, Milva, The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that forme ...
. The recordings feature his last group, a quintet featuring Coltrane, his wife/pianist
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
, saxophonist/bass clarinetist
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 ...
, 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 l ...
and drummer Rashied Ali. The recordings were originally released in 1973 as a heavily abridged double LP by Impulse! Records, titled ''Concert In Japan''. The Japanese release from the same year was titled ''Coltrane In Japan'' and featured an expanded five-sided 3-LP set; a second 3-LP volume titled ''Second Night In Tokyo'' was issued in Japan in 1977 with an audio interview amended to side six. Versions have also been released by
MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
under the titles ''Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 1'' and ''Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 2''. The first
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, 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 rele ...
versions issued by Impulse! were titled ''Live In Japan Vol. 1'' and ''Live In Japan Vol. 2'' and used the tracklists of the 1970s Japanese releases. Finally, Impulse! released a 4-CD
box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
of both volumes in 1991. These recordings are of some of the longest and densest free improvisation of Coltrane's later career, with some performances of single tunes approaching an hour in length. By this point in his career, Coltrane was firmly enmeshed into the
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
style of jazz. Sanders, who was an innovator of
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 during ...
, influenced Coltrane's playing through his technical use of overblowing and fierce vibrations of the reed. Both saxophone players use
multiphonics A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voice ...
, overtones, and other extended musical techniques.


Brief background

At the time Coltrane and his quintet were invited to tour Japan in July 1966, he was, according to the Japanese jazz magazine ''Swing Journal'', the most popular musician in Japan, with albums selling as many as 30,000 copies each. The members of the group arrived by plane in Tokyo on July 8 and were treated like visiting dignitaries, with several thousand fans greeting the plane. The group's schedule was grueling, and involved playing seventeen concerts over fourteen days. During the tour, a number of Japanese jazz musicians sat in with the group, and Coltrane and Sanders were presented with alto saxophones by the Yamaha Instrument Company, with the understanding that the musicians would play the instruments and offer advice. (This explains the use of alto saxophones on some of the recordings.) Coltrane also participated in at least one press conference, and took time to visit the War Memorial Park in
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
. Despite the exhausting itinerary, Coltrane biographer Eric Nisenson called Coltrane's Japan tour "the event that was probably the greatest single triumph of his life". While in Japan, Coltrane began experiencing headaches that foreshadowed the health problems that would lead to his death in 1967. After Coltrane's death, Rashied Ali noticed that a number of the photographs that he had taken during the Japan tour showed Coltrane holding his hand over his liver, "like he was trying to stop that pain he must have been feeling all by himself."


Reception

Ben Ratliff described the recording as "a record of long-form stamina, closer than any other recording to what oltrane'sperformances had actually been like for about five years..." He continued: "It has its chaos, but in no way has Coltrane renounced grace: in 'Peace on Earth,' a new rubato ballad in the 'Naima' style, he displays a technique that had never been more stunning, with rapid interrogations of harmony and extreme dynamics—from mild susurrations to a stretch before the end of his solo where he packs so much force into the horn that it sounds as if it might burst. Then, when he returns after Alice's solo, it's as if he's looking backward at his career; he seems to reference at various points the melodic cells of 'A Love Supreme' and 'Ascension', the melody of 'Naima,' and the melody of 'Body and Soul.' But these are not in any way explicit references. He is working within his own improvisational language, a big pool, wide enough to accommodate all that music." Coltrane biographer J. C. Thomas referred to "Peace on Earth" as a "simple, exquisite cadenza with... countless, spiraling variations," and wrote: "The sound and feeling John Coltrane creates on 'Peace' is an extraordinary testament to the Japanese, whose attention, love, and respect he must have both welcomed and absorbed, for it is his most inspired 'live' performance on record. He is 'talking to you,' speaking so directly and passionately that the music sounds like a gentle whispering in your ear; he is asking you to love all people and is hoping they will love you in return." 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 ...
,
Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...
commented: "listeners who enjoy avant-garde jazz will find many stirring moments among the very lengthy performances." Thom Jurek, in a review of the earlier release ''Concert in Japan'', stated: "No Coltrane fan... should be without this fine recording," and wrote that "Alice Coltrane's piano... is utterly lovely" while "drummer Rashied Ali and bassist Jimmy Garrison show an almost symbiotic interplay," the three of them "manag ngto just barely tether this group to the earth." Gary Giddins awarded the album an "A−", and wrote: "The six selections... range from 25 to 57 minutes long, and there are moments when the heat they generate could melt glass. The big surprise for Coltrane hands is that he plays alto sax (instead of his usual tenor or soprano) on his signature theme, 'My Favorite Things.' Better fasten your seat belts for this one." Writing for Perfect Sound Forever, John Howard stated: "Enormous and lush, like huge tracts of uncharted land, this is music that sounds different almost every time you hear it. Alice's piano paintings were never more colorful, and Coltrane and Sanders duel out into the stratosphere. Warning: These songs are LOOONG, some are nearly as long as an hour. Not a place for beginners. That said, it is beautiful music, abstract and beatific. Wonderfully recorded as well. The songs are so long that as a listener you interact with the music to structure it in a way that you can understand. High praise, in my book."


Track listing

''All compositions by John Coltrane except as indicated''


Disc One

# " Afro Blue" ( Mongo Santamaría) – 38:49 Previously released on ''Second Night In Tokyo'' # "Peace on Earth" – 26:25 Previously released on ''Second Night In Tokyo''


Disc Two

# "Crescent" – 54:33 Previously released on ''Second Night In Tokyo''


Disc Three

# "Peace on Earth" – 25:05 Previously released on ''Concert in Japan'' and ''Coltrane In Japan'' # "Leo" – 44:49 Previously released on ''Concert in Japan'' and ''Coltrane In Japan''


Disc Four

# " My Favorite Things" (
Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
/
Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...
) – 57:19 Previously released on ''Coltrane In Japan''


Notes

*Disc 1 & 2 recorded at Sankei Hall, Tokyo, on July 11, 1966 *Disc 3 & 4 recorded at Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, on July 22, 1966 Note: According to the Japan tour itinerary, which was reproduced in its entirety in both J. C. Thomas' biography ''Chasin' the Trane'' and ''The John Coltrane Reference'' (the authors of the Reference note that the itinerary was provided to them by Rashied Ali, and a photocopy of the first page of the itinerary is also included), the Coltrane quintet played in Sankei Hall on July 10 and 11, and Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall on July 18, 19, and 22, 1966. However, the CD notes incorrectly state that the July 11 recording was made at Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall and the July 22 recording at Sankei Hall. The Coltrane Reference confirms this error, stating that, for the July 11 concert, the CD "wrongly lists the location as Shinjuku Koseinenkin Hall" and, for the July 22 concert, it "wrongly lists location as Sankei Hall". Katherine Whatley's article "Tracing a Giant Step: John Coltrane in Japan" provides an overview of the entire tour, including dates and locations.


Personnel

*John Coltrane -
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
,
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
and
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 ...
s,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
*Alice Coltrane -
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 ...
*Pharoah Sanders -
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
and
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 ...
s,
bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
*Jimmy Garrison -
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 -
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

*Alice Coltrane - producer *Ed Michel - producer, transfer *Bob Brown - transfer with *Kathryn King - transfer with *Rick Heenan - transfer with *Honeya Barth - illustration *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Live In Japan Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Live albums published posthumously John Coltrane live albums 1973 live albums Impulse! Records live albums