The Complete Concerts: Live In France July 27 and 28, 1965

Two discs 62 and 49 minutes each approximately. The sound is close to (but not quite as good) as the LIVE TRANE box set released years ago. The bass is a bit "muddy",but is discernible if you listen closely. The piano can be heard clearly but is pushed slightly back in the mix,along with the drums. The "star" raring is primarily for the rare tracks performed by Coltrane. This set comprises two concerts in Paris,France in July 1965.After opening announcements,Coltrane (tenor sax) and his group (McCoy Tyner-piano,Jimmy Garrison-bass,and Elvin Jones-drums) launch into "Naima". There is a bit of an edge to this recording which gives it a bit more life,while still retaining that beautiful melody so important to this tune.But what sets this collection apart from other live sets is that Coltrane (in deference to the audience) performed "Ascension" at each of these two concerts. These are the only known times he played this tune outside of the studio. Previously in discographies these two tracks were listed as "Blue Valse",due to an error by a French broadcaster,who misunderstood the title. These two complete concerts have not been available for quite some time,and it's nice to have them again in good sound. Both versions of "Ascension" are markedly different than the studio version,due primarily because of Pharoah Sanders absence. In the studio Sanders pushed both himself and Coltrane into some then uncharted territory. Heard here,they sound fairly conventional,but are nonetheless good interpretations of the tune. In a quartet setting,Coltrane plays back and forth with the melody and some "outside" playing,but nothing like he would later display in his final era. The first version of "Ascension" then segues into "My Favorite Things",which while beautiful in this rendition of the tune,is nothing out of the ordinary. The final track,which is another lengthy display,is "Impressions",which gives the group room to stretch out in another good interpretation of this well known tune.The second disc which was recorded the day after the above,starts off with an even lengthier version of "Ascension",and the playing is a bit "harder" in this set. Both Coltrane and Tyner,come out with some fierce playing from the beginning. As always,Elvin Jones' drums are an integral part of the group sound,and here he shows what he does best-playing with fire as he fills in and around both Coltrane and Tyner. The second track, "Afro Blue",is played more in the "free" style that Coltrane was starting to bring into his music. However,it's not as "outside" as his playing eventually would become. The concert wraps up with another version of "Impressions",which is well known but still a treat to hear.For those who have listened to Coltrane with his various groups,it's well known that this particular group was one of (if not his best) his best groups of any size. This is an important release because these concerts were played back-to-back,and both contain "Ascension" in the set list. This alone makes this set worth putting in the Coltrane "library". For anyone wanting to hear what all the fuss is about Coltrane and this particularly fine "4tet",this would be one of the sets to hear. For anyone who likes this era of Coltrane's sound,pick this up-you won't be disappointed.

The three concerts performed on consecutive days (the two in this set plus the famous July 26 live version of "A Love Supreme") were perhaps the best 1965 live recordings from this historic group. They capture Coltrane's most renowned group at a critical juncture in his development, just a few weeks after the "Ascension" studio date. The sound quality is very good for the most part, with occasional imperfections, but extremely listenable. As noted elsewhere, these concerts include the only two known live performances of "Ascension", here in a quartet setting. Coltrane's playing is incendiary throughout - these are arguably the highest-energy versions of "Impressions" and "My Favorite Things" of all the recordings of these two staples of Trane's live performances (for "Impressions", these are the last known recordings of this tune listed in "The John Coltrane Reference" by Porter, Wilde, et al).Most of these tracks have been available on various poorly-documented releases. It is very nice to have the complete concert sets in the original order, with accurate documentation of the dates and locations.These powerful recordings should be considered by any Coltrane fan who wants to examine the development of Coltrane's playing into his final avant-garde period of 1966-67. They are noticeably more aggressive than his 1962-64 classic quartet work, but maintain the same general approach.

from the master "Trane" this live performance from France is exceptional. The quality of the recording is excellent, the songs very well played as the band is tight and cohesive, and John is truly in Top Form. The music goes from melodic to free form and back but all is extremely well played and this is a very important time n Coltrane's life as he was healthy and transforming from the more standard jazz to his free form progressive & creatively limitless style. Along with the double Love Supreme release, this is a MUST HAVE!

A good quality listenable recording of a very important phase of The John Coltrane Quartet. (1965).The recording appears to be in Mono, but I consider it lucky that it exists at all. I am very happy to have this 2CD set. I can easily recommend this to anyone.

I thought I would never hear new Coltrane music again because I was under the impression that all his recorded music had been released. The last time I heard Coltrane live was at a Jazz Festival in Chicago back in the 1960s where I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him backstage. It was thrilling to hear my favorite musician "live" once more.

The very crisp performance

brilliantly beautiful. awesome bass solo.plays soprano sax.feel your heart with this music. el sharif

Brilliant late Coltrane in vivid sound. Recommended to all serious jazz listeners.

un trésor qui ajoute un autre jalon au parcours de Coltrane...

This release features two complete concerts played in France during July 1965. CD 1 was recorded in Antibes (the day after the famous live recording of A Love Supreme was made); CD 2 was recorded in Paris a day later.CD1 runs for about 60 minutes, featuring a rather straight forward, beautiful 7-minute Naima, a 15-minute quartet version of Ascension, and 20-minute versions of My Favorite Things and Impressions.The sound quality is good throughout, very good by bootleg standards (meaning it is not as good as the official Impulse! recordings from the Birdland or the Village Vanguard, but as good as most of the European Tours-7 CD box concerts.)CD2 runs for about 50 minutes, with a 22-minute version of Ascension followed by a 10-minute Afro Blue and a 16-minute Impressions. Unfortunately, the sound quality of this recording is bad enough to ruin it for me. There is plenty of distortion and the volume level keeps sinking and rising.On most tracks, Trane ventures a lot "further out there" than the band, who play very tightly, keeping the tunes together. One feels that the end was slowly coming into sight for the quartet, but this might in fact have an enhancing effect on the intensity of the music.Summing up: On the downside, this is effectively a 1 CD release, due to the inferior sound of disc 2. And few of you will need yet another version of My Favorite Things or Impressions. On the upside, disc 1 is one of the best sounding bootleg releases available. And the quartet readings of Ascension, including extensive solos by Tyner, Jones and Trane (trying to, and rather gloriously failing to, recreate the group improvisation sound of the studio recording) make this a must-have for any serious collector of Coltrane's music.(The booklet is nicely made, though it only mentions Coltrane "on tenor", when in fact he is playing the soprano sax on My Favorite Things and Afro Blue.)

1965年7月のフランスでの２枚組ライブ録音。CD１のアンティーブでは、前日に『A LoveSupreme』の全曲演奏を行い、この曲を知らなかった観客は？マークとなってしまった。コルトレーンの意欲と試みは不発に終わった。このアルバムには、その翌日のライブの様子が収められている。M２はこのアルバムでは「アセンション」とクレジットされているが、以前はアセンションのモチーフを使った「Blue Valse」という表記になっていた。なのでイコール・アセンションというわけではない。CD2では、紹介アナウンスなく演奏。M１「Blue Valse」、テーマの後にマッコイのソロ。エルヴィンのブレイクの後に、ギャリソンのベース・ソロ。ゴツゴツとしているが音楽的であることを失わないプレイは、このグループからピアニストとドラマーがいなくなっても、バンドに残り続けた必然。アルコに持ち替えても、ポール・チェンバースの唐突でぎこちないものよりもはるかに音楽的。その後、コルトレーンが魂を振り絞り切るブローを展開。マッコイのピアノ演奏の途中から始まるM2「Afro Blue」。コルトレーンがソプラノでテーマを吹き、さっと引っ込むと、マッコイがそのままソロへ。この演奏、コルトレーンを除くマッコイたちは一致団結し、彼らがやってきた音楽をかっちりと演奏している。コルトレーンは”安心してなんでもできる”と自由にブローしているように聴こえる。しかし事情は、それだけではなかった。３人にとって、意外（？）だったのは、もうコルトレーンは、引き返せないほど、次の段階に踏み込んでいた。その点で、このライブは、コルトレーンがマイルス・バンドにいた最後の頃のヨーロッパ・ライブに似ている。ここにはバンドの一体感とは違ったものが漂っている。レッドゾーンまで振り切れたテナーの絶叫のような演奏は、コルトレーンにとっても辛かったのだろう。これはファラオ・サンダースの加入で解決する。しかしそれがスムースに解放された分、従来の演奏の主役である2人は、舞台から去らなければならなかった。帰国して２ヶ月後、４人はスタジオに入り、『First Meditations』をレコーディングし、これがカルテットとしてのラストとなる。そして同じ曲を、コルトレーンが考える新しい音楽へと進ませたものを、ファラオ・サンダースとラシッド・アリを加えたメンバーで録音。その直後に、エルヴィンとマッコイはグループを離れる。

コルトレーンがドルフィーを追悼しているライヴ。2日目のパリimpresionsは、1日目の同曲の続きで、ドルフィーのソロを促しているようだ。

試聴していたので、予想どうりでした。イイ感じのお気に入りです。