Live in Japan (John Coltrane album)

For other albums of this name, see Live in Japan (disambiguation).

Live in Japan

Live album by John Coltrane
Released	1973 (original double LP) 1991 4-CD set
Recorded	July 11, 1966 at Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall and July 22, 1966 at Sankei Hall
Genre	Jazz
Length	247:01
Label	Impulse!
Producer	Alice Coltrane, Ed Michel ^[1]

Concert in Japan Cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[3] Concert in Japan

Live in Japan is a four-disc box set by American saxophonist John Coltrane and his last group, featuring the quintet of Coltrane, his wife/pianist Alice, saxophonist/bass clarinetist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Rashied Ali. The 4-CD set compiles all the music issued as three albums in the seventies by Impulse!; Concert In Japan (1973, US 2-LP, electronically processed for compatible quadrophonic/stereo), Coltrane In Japan (1974, Japan 3-LP (side six is blank), mono) and Second Night In Tokyo (1976, Japan 3-LP (side six contains an interview, mono). (Some of this material was also reissued as two 2-LP sets in 1980 by MCA under the titles Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 1 and Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 2) The first CD issues were by Impulse! Japan as two 2-CD sets: Live In Japan Vol. 1 (same as "Coltrane In Japan") and Live In Japan Vol. 2 (same as "Second Night In Tokyo"). The US 4-CD edition includes both of these volumes, with identical mastering from the original mono tapes. The side six interview from "Second Night In Tokyo" has never been reissued on any CD edition.

Recorded live on Coltrane's only Japanese tour in July 1966 at two Tokyo venues, Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall and Sankei Hall, it is taken from mono radio broadcasts. It is notable for the presence of alto saxophone by both Coltrane and Sanders; neither man often recorded with the instrument.

By this point in his career, Coltrane was firmly enmeshed into the avant-garde style of jazz. Sanders, who was an innovator of free jazz, influenced Coltrane's playing through his technical use of overblowing and fierce vibrations of the reed, and this record is remarkable for its use of multiphonics, overtones, and other extended musical techniques from both players.

Analysis

The songs on the 4-disc album are noted for their very lengthy running time (the shortest piece is 25 minutes long), all during which each player takes long, free solos, and sometimes the melody is not even played but only briefly alluded to.

At 38:49, the version of "Afro Blue" on this album is by far the longest Coltrane ever recorded. The solo form to this song is of the performer's choice: Either an F minor blues in 3/4 or an open vamp over F minor, the latter of which Coltrane always opted for. After playing the melody quite faithfully, he takes a 3-minute soprano sax solo, then turns over the spotlight to Sanders, who, for the next 12 minutes or so, uses his trademark screeching, screaming, and shrieking during his entire solo. Alice Coltrane plays a very avant-garde piano ad lib, and then Coltrane comes back in on soprano with a gargantuan 18-minute solo before ending the song.

"Peace on Earth" is more subdued, with both saxophonists playing alto and trading off each other toward the end.

Around this time, Coltrane also periodically gave Garrison extended bass solos to open some of the songs (this version of "My Favorite Things" begins with a 14-minute bass solo.) After a 12-minute bass intro, Coltrane's song "Crescent" is kicked off, with both saxophones taking ferocious solos during the almost hour-long version. The performance concludes with a short statement of the theme from "Leo", behind the MC's introduction of the band.

A second version of "Peace on Earth" on the third disc is quite like the first, with Sanders complementing the ensemble on auxiliary percussion when not playing. Alice Coltrane does not solo in this performance, however.

Coltrane's composition "Leo" first appeared on the posthumously released sax/drum duo album with Ali entitled Interstellar Space, and later, in a full ensemble version, on a number of posthumous archival albums ("Infinity", "Jupiter Variation" and a variant edition of "Cosmic Music"). It is perhaps the most dense performance on the album. It begins with Coltrane and Sanders playing shrill harmonics and high overblown notes before the rest of the ensemble comes in (This section is borrowed from the earlier piece "The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost", from the album "Meditations"). Ali takes an extended drum solo about 15 minutes in. Notably, during Sanders' first, very long solo, Coltrane briefly joins him for a duet (Coltrane is playing alto here - this is the "dialog on altos" wrongly identified by the sleevenote writer as occurring toward the end of the piece). Sanders likewise joins Coltrane for a short duet during the latter's solo (this time playing bass-clarinet - the instrument on which he briefly solos, following the drum solo).

After the aforementioned bass solo, the hour-long version of "My Favorite Things" includes a solo by Alice, and Coltrane and Sanders taking extended sax solos (Coltrane's is approximately 20 minutes). Unusually, Coltrane's initial solo/theme statement is played on the alto saxophone, rather than the usual soprano, which he switches to later in the performance.

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 / Oscar Hammerstein II) - 57:19 Previously released on Coltrane In Japan

Notes

Disc 1 & 2 recorded at Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall on July 11, 1966
Disc 3 & 4 recorded at Sankei Hall on July 22, 1966

Personnel

John Coltrane - soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, percussion
Alice Coltrane - piano
Pharoah Sanders - alto and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, percussion
Jimmy Garrison - bass
Rashied Ali - drums

Production

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

References

↑ Credits Taken from Notes. Retrieved August 29, 2015
↑ Allmusic review
↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 47. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

John Coltrane

Discography

Prestige albums	Bahia The Believer Black Pearls The Cats Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette Coltrane Dakar Interplay John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane The Last Trane Lush Life Settin' the Pace Soultrane Standard Coltrane Stardust Tenor Conclave Two Tenors Wheelin' and Dealin'

Blue Note albums	Blue Train Coltrane Time

Atlantic albums	The Avant-Garde Bags & Trane Coltrane Jazz Coltrane Plays the Blues Coltrane's Sound Giant Steps My Favorite Things Olé Coltrane

Impulse! albums	Africa/Brass Ascension Ballads Coltrane Cosmic Music Crescent Duke Ellington & John Coltrane Expression First Meditations Impressions Infinity Interstellar Space John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Kulu Sé Mama A Love Supreme Meditations Om Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things Stellar Regions Sun Ship Transition

With Miles Davis	Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet Basic Miles 'Round About Midnight Workin' with The Miles Davis Quintet Steamin' with The Miles Davis Quintet Relaxin' with The Miles Davis Quintet Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley Milestones 1958 Miles Miles & Monk at Newport Kind of Blue Someday My Prince Will Come Jazz at the Plaza

With Ray Draper	The Ray Draper Quintet featuring John Coltrane A Tuba Jazz

With Wilbur Harden	Mainstream 1958 Jazz Way Out Tanganyika Strut

With Thelonious Monk	The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings Thelonious Himself Monk's Music Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane

Live albums	Afro Blue Impressions Bye Bye Blackbird The European Tour Live at Birdland Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up Live! at the Village Vanguard Live at the Village Vanguard Again! The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings Live in Japan Live in Paris Live in Seattle Newport '63 New Thing at Newport The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording The Paris Concert Offering: Live at Temple University

Compilations	Alternate Takes The Best of John Coltrane The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings Coltrane for Lovers The Coltrane Legacy The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane The Prestige Recordings Countdown: The Savoy Sessions Dial Africa: The Savoy Sessions Feelin' Good Gleanings Gold Coast The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings High Step The Major Works of John Coltrane Jupiter Variation Ken Burns Jazz: John Coltrane The Last Giant: Anthology Living Space To the Beat of a Different Drum Trane's Blues Trane's Modes

Compositions	"Alabama" "Equinox" "Giant Steps" "Impressions" "Lazy Bird" "Moment's Notice" "Naima" "Ogunde"

Documentaries	The Church of Saint Coltrane The World According to John Coltrane Trane Tracks: The Legacy of John Coltrane

Related	Coltrane changes Sheets of sound Ravi Coltrane Alice Coltrane Flying Lotus Dix Hills home Philadelphia house 5893 Coltrane asteroid John W. Coltrane Cultural Society Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane

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