Lost live Coltrane and Dolphy recordings to be issued on Impulse!
Mike Flynn
Thursday, June 1, 2023
The previously unheard live album features a rare meeting between these two giants of the saxophone in an extended and richly detailed recording
Following the huge success of 2018’s Both Directions At Once – that on release debuted in the main UK Album Chart at No.15 – John Coltrane fans are in for another slice of previously ‘lost’ musical magic, as a rare live recording featuring both Trane and iconic altoist/flautist Eric Dolphy is set to be released on 14 July on Impulse! Records. Titled, Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, the album was recorded during Coltrane’s month-long summer 1961 Village Gate residency and consists of 80-minutes of never-before-heard music with the two saxophonists backed by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones. Dolphy died three years later, and this recording is the only live document of their Village Gate performances.
Coltrane and Dolphy at the Village Gate - Photo by Herb Snitzer
In addition to some well-known Coltrane material (‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Impressions’, and ‘Greensleeves’), Dolphy is given an extended bass clarinet feature on ‘When Lights Are Low’, while the set also includes the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane’s composition, ‘Africa’, which features bassist Art Davis. The tapes for this revelatory recording were recently discovered at the New York Public Library. Recorded by engineer Rich Alderson as part of a test of the club's new sound system, they were seemingly lost, then found, and then disappeared again into the archives of the New York Public Library.
Accompanying the release are essays from two participants from those evenings at the Village Gate, bassist Reggie Workman and recording engineer Rich Alderson, as well as jazz historian Ashley Kahn and leading saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin, all offering valuable and insightful essays on the recordings. The track listing and times is as follows: ‘My Favorite Things’ (15:45); ‘When Lights Are Low’ (15:10); ‘Impressions’ (10:00); ‘Greensleeves’ (16:15); and ‘Africa’ (22:41).
The first single, 'Impressions' is available to stream and download now - preorder the here - there's a special orange vinyl version available to order here
For more info visit www.impulserecords.com
