Live at the Village Vanguard Again! [Import] [Limited Edition] [Live] [Original recording remastered]

1. Naima

2. Introduction to My Favorite Things

3. My Favorite Things

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Part of the Impulse Best 50! Series. Japanese exclusive 24-bit 96khz digitally remastered reissue of 1966 album. Packaged in a limited edition miniature gatefold LP sleeve.

Live at the Village Vanguard Again!,John Coltrane,Import [Generic],Avant-Garde,Avant-Garde Jazz,Free Jazz,Hard Bop,Jazz,Pop

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Tracks:

Naima
Introduction to My Favorite Things
My Favorite Things

Album Description

Part of the Impulse Best 50! Series. Japanese exclusive 24-bit 96khz digitally remastered reissue of 1966 album. Packaged in a limited edition miniature gatefold LP sleeve.

Album Details

Japanese limited edition release featuring an LP style slipcase cover. 24bit 96kHz digitally remastered. Part of the 'Impulse Best 50' collection.

Average customer rating:

The Best All time Album
Not as avant garde as I expected...
Visionary Late-Period Coltrane!!!
Incredible live album, further adding to the legend...
Eat your veggies first

Live at the Village Vanguard Again!
John Coltrane
Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Hard Bop | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

GRP | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Meditations
Live at Birdland
Live in Seattle
Expression
Live At The Village Vanguard: The Master Takes

ASIN: B000003N94
Release Date: 1997-03-11

Tracks:

Naima
Introduction to My Favorite Things
My Favorite Things

Customer Reviews:

The Best All time Album.......2007-06-27

THis is it! The greatest of all time. This one.

I first heard this album in February, 1967, at a college friend's pad in Berkeley. It blew my mind then and it hasn't ever stopped.

Beginning with Jimmy Garrison's bass solo Introduction the CD moves right on to My Favorite Things without having to flip over the vinyl, like you used to have to do. Then, increase the volumn from minute to minute until deafining. Be absolutely sure to have a high quality, powerful sound system with a subwoofer. Take off. Enjoy. John Coltrane and Pharoh Sanders dueling. Mind expanding drugs not necessary. The music will do the job.

I'm a little disappointed that it is not possible to buy this CD as digitally remastered, or SACD or DVD Audio. But the way it comes is quite good.

This is the single greatest musical accomplishment of all albums, in my opinion.

Not as avant garde as I expected..........2005-07-16

...In fact, compared to the Olatunji Concert (which I reviewed elsewhere) these performances from 1966 are positively conservative. On both tunes Trane definitely sticks to the structure and atmosphere of the originals. I was especially taken with My Favorite Things. In the Olatunji album Trane never quotes the entire MFT theme in its entirety but only tiny parts of it. Here, he repeats the theme exactly as he did back in 1961. In the Olatunji version of MFT Trane never seems to play to an implied tempo. Here even though he supposedly has a group that plays "panrhythmic music" he seems to be sticking to the waltz tempo of the original tune for much of the time.

Admittedly there are some important differences between MFT as it was in 1960-65 and here - one, there is no beat (Rashied Ali preferring some sort of bizzare changing tempo); two, Trane's soloing is far beyond even the Newport 1965 version in passion and freedom; and most importantly Pharoah Sanders is present.

Now I have every respect for Mr Sanders, and I know he is still alive and all. But I must admit that on this disc (and the Olatunji disc) I cannot for the life of me comprehend what his improvisations are about. They literally bear no resemblance to the theme of the tunes except very very briefly at random moments. For the rest of the time it is like listening to a jackhammer or an angle grinder. You can literally swap Sanders' solos between the two pieces, and not notice the difference. Whereas Coltrane's soloing always relates to the tune and its mood, Sanders is often screeching away in some world of his own.

I am also not too sure about the tambourines, bells and drums - they are often played without any taste, seemingly at random moments during a solo.

The Penguin reviewers mention that it is a little odd to have Coltrane play Naima (a tribute to his first wife) whilst his second wife is in his band! Maybe you can detect a certain mulish resentment in Alice's playing on this piece...?

Also, I notice that Coltrane (or his quintet) makes a slight error during MFT. Trane reaches the end of his solo with his usual double-repetition of the theme, slurring the notes at the end - but then usually McCoy Tyner would play the MFT theme and take off on his solo. With his new group, either Alice or Sanders flubs their entry, so Coltrane hesitantly plays the MFT theme a *third* time, almost dropping out halfway, and then continuing with a certain irritated air.

This is a fine disc. It is true what the other reviewer said, that this is a good introduction to Coltrane's avant garde phase - it is far, far easier on the ear than the Olatunji disc!!!

Visionary Late-Period Coltrane!!!.......2005-05-01

"Live at The Village Vanguard Again!" from 1966 finds the legendary John Coltrane returning to the famous Jazz club where he made his monumental live album five years earlier. Unlike the 1961 Vanguard release, "..Again!" finds Coltrane not only with a different group of players (bassist Jimmy Garrison being the only holdover) but stretching the music into extremely dissonant and exploritory realms. The addition of second saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders pushes the avant-garde envelope even further.
Despite the album containing only two tracks (and familiar Coltrane classics at that), they are performed in such a way that they become new and different pieces of music altogether. The first track, "Naima" (originally from 1960's "Giant Steps") begins with Coltrane stating the familiar melody before launching into a solo that begins to gravitate as far away from the piece's original structure as possible. Once Sanders takes over with his solo, it becomes an almost 'anything goes' free-for-all. Even when Coltrane returns to take the piece to its close, the mood has already taken a permanent switch from tender to turbulant.
"My Favorite Things" (which runs for 26-minutes here) opens with an astonishing six-minute bass solo from Jimmy Garrison. Here, Garrison explores the outer limits of his instruments using chordal strumming, harmonics and even diving into a Spanish-flamenco style melody. This leads into the piece proper with Coltrane's soprano saxophone out front. After Coltrane states the melody, the music once again shifts into free territory with Sanders performing a ferocious screaming tenor sax lead with embellishments from Coltrane on the flute and bass clarinet. When Coltrane returns to the soprano sax, both he and Sanders engage in a raging dueling sax conversation that almost sounds like a violent battle for center stage. When the main melody returns, Sanders backs Coltrane on the flute. In addition to the loose free spontaneoity heard throughout the piece, the rhythm section also stands out as drummer Rashied Ali's explosive drumming is enhanced by the percussion of Emmanuel Rahim giving the music an almost 'world' flavor.
Granted, "Live at the Village Vanguard Again!" is not for everyone. Most would probably want to stick with the classic 1961 recording instead of this one. However, it cannot be argued that "..Again!" contains some of Coltrane's most exploratory work and is perfectly in line with the other live releases from this period (the double-disc "Live In Seattle" and the epic four-disc set "Live in Japan") as well as his experimental studio work ("Ascension", "Meditations", "Kulu Se Mama" and his final studio sessions that would produce "Expression", "Stellar Regions" and "Interstellar Space"). If you have the ears for it, then this is definitely worth a listen.

Incredible live album, further adding to the legend..........2005-04-10

On May 28, 1966, John Coltrane and his band played the legendary Village Vanguard in New York, the same place he played almost five years earlier, as documented on the treasure box, John Coltrane: Village Vanguard Recordings 1961. This band is: John Coltrane on Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, and Bass Clarinet at one part, the criminally underrated Pharaoh Sanders on Tenor Sax and Flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, the incredible Rashied Ali on drums, Emmanuel Rahim on extra percussion, and the only man remaining from the Classic Quartet, Jimmy Garrison on bass.

This album is an incredible jam and is definatley not for the faint or Coltrane newcomer unless you are a free jazz fan, I'd advise Giant Steps(1959), My Favorite Things(1960), Blue Train(1957), or the beautiful A Love Supreme(1964). Back to the album. It starts out with the beautiful ballad, Naima and a great solo by Trane but Pharaoh's solo was well worth the price of admisson and one of the most incredible solos I've ever heard on the saxophone. Jimmy Garrison's driving bass intro shows that he was definatley one of the greatest bassists to ever live and starts out My Favorite Things, showcasing Coltrane's amazing mastery of the soprano saxophone, making this performance even more incredible than the studio version, by far.

There you have it, my friends. This is one of the great heights of this wonderful artist and a great addition to your collection of the man named Coltrane.

Eat your veggies first.......2004-06-20

From one Coltrane novice to another: I definitely agree with the others who say that this is not the disc to begin your introduction to 'Trane. Start with one of the Atlantic recordings, where he really finds his voice - even a best-of. Then pick up a couple of the key Impulse recordings: "Coltrane", "Love Supreme", "Africa/Brass". Then try the "Transition" album. It's an appropriately titled album where Coltrane starts to increase the cruising altitude a bit. Once you think you've got the hang of it, then you're ready to try this one. Even then you might think this is a bunch of noise. Which it is. But it can be beautiful noise.

IMHO, this is a pretty good place to get into Coltrane's "free" period, much more than an album like "Ascension" which to my ears sounds like a failed experiment. Here's why:
1. You get to hear 'Trane deconstruct two of his most popular tunes, giving a nice reference point for those times during the album when the band takes off on one of its free flights.
2. There's only two songs roughly 20 minutes each in length, so the relative brevity (compared to say, the 60-minute 'My Favorite Things' from "Live in Japan") doesn't tax the uninitiated too much.
3. Yes, there's a lot of honking and wailing from Pharoah Sanders. But strangely enough it fits the music. I like the way the melody floats in and out during the performance. For those of you coming from the rock world (like me), picture some of Sonic Youth's more epic tunes, where a noise-punk raveup morphs into something completely different and goes from atonal to melodic and back again.
4. The album cover is pretty cool. You always read about jazz legends playing the infamous Village Vanguard, and here you finally get to see a picture of it. And it tells a thousand words.
5. All of the reviews here are accurate. Like the liner notes state, listening to this album is a deeply personal experience. Some will hear the beauty and some will hear the ugliness. Neither is wrong, and I think that was John Coltrane's intent.

Live At The Village Vanguard Again!
Average customer rating:
Live At The Village Vanguard Again!
John Coltrane
Manufacturer: Emi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000007UT8
Release Date: 1997-06-11

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