Live at Birdland (John Coltrane album)
Live at Birdland | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album / Live album by John Coltrane | ||||
Released | January 9, 1964 (1964-01-09)[1][2] | |||
Recorded | October 8, 1963 (#1–3) March 6, 1963 (#6, CD only) November 18, 1963 (#4–5) | |||
Venue | Birdland, New York City (#1–3) | |||
Studio | Van Gelder (Englewood Cliffs) (#4–5) | |||
Genre | Jazz, post-bop | |||
Length | 38:54 original LP 43:35 CD reissue | |||
Label | Impulse! A-50 | |||
Producer | Bob Thiele | |||
John Coltrane chronology | ||||
|
Live at Birdland (stylized on the cover as Coltrane live at Birdland) is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. It was released on January 9, 1964 through Impulse! Records.[1][2][3] Three of its tracks were recorded live at the Birdland club and two are studio recordings. Among them is "Alabama", a tribute to four black children killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, a white supremacist terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama.
The album's original pressing accidentally included a false start–– this was corrected in later copies, but restored in CD editions. The album also features a live recording of "I Want to Talk About You", a song Coltrane had recorded on his 1958 album Soultrane, this time with an extended cadenza.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Record Mirror | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Reception
Scott Yanow's five-star AllMusic review calls the recording "[a]rguably John Coltrane's finest all-around album".[4] A review in All About Jazz states: "Coltrane Live at Birdland showcases 'The Great Quartet' in excellent form: Elvin banging and cursin', McCoy a steady force maintaining the form, Jimmy Garrison pacing the beat and Coltrane stretching out into space filling the void... A definite collectors' item."[8] Reviewer C. Michael Bailey wrote: "If the listener wishes to hear the master in transition, look no further than Coltrane Live at Birdland."[3] LeRoi Jones wrote: "There is a daringly human quality to John Coltrane's music that makes itself felt, wherever he records. If you can hear, this music will make you think of a lot of weird and wonderful things. You might even become one of them."[9] In 2017, Pitchfork ranked the album as the 128th best of the 1960s.[10]
Regarding the track "Alabama", Ben Ratliff wrote: "It is a striking piece of music. If anyone wants to begin to understand how Coltrane could inspire so much awe so quickly, the reason is probably inside "Alabama". The incantational tumult he could raise in a long improvisation, the steel-trap knowledge of harmony, the writing—that's all very impressive. But "Alabama" is also an accurate psychological portrait of a time, a complicated mood that nobody else could render so well."[11]
Track listing
All songs written by John Coltrane except as indicated
- "Afro Blue" (Mongo Santamaria) – 10:50
- "I Want to Talk About You" (Billy Eckstine) – 8:11
- "The Promise" – 8:10
- "Alabama" – 5:09
- "Your Lady" – 6:39
- Compact Disc bonus track
- "Vilia" (Franz Lehár) – 4:36
"Vilia" is a jazz arrangement of Franz Lehár's "Es lebt' eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein" from The Merry Widow. This track was first released on a 1965 compilation by Impulse![12]
Personnel
- John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
- McCoy Tyner – piano
- Jimmy Garrison – double bass
- Elvin Jones – drums
References
- ^ a b DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013). Porter, Lewis (ed.). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 689. ISBN 9780415634632.
- ^ a b Ostrow, Marty; Howard, Ira; Lichtman, Irv, eds. (January 18, 1964). "ABC-Par's 33 New Albums Is a Record-setting Issue" (PDF). Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on Oct 8, 2022.
- ^ a b Bailey, C. Michael. "John Coltrane: Live At Birdland". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "John Coltrane Live at Birdland". AllMusic. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ "John Coltrane: Live At Birdland" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 176. 25 July 1964. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-15. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 47. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ AAJ Staff (June 1, 1997). "John Coltrane: Coltrane Live at Birdland". All About Jazz. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Jones, LeRoi (2010). Black Music. Akashi Classics. p. 66.
- ^ "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s: 140-121". Pitchfork. 22 August 2017. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (2007). Coltrane: The Story of a Sound. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 86.
- ^ "The Definitive Jazz Scene Volume 3 (1965, Vinyl)". Discogs.
- v
- t
- e
albums
- Mating Call (with Tadd Dameron)
- Tenor Conclave
- Coltrane
- Interplay
- Wheelin' & Dealin'
- John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio
- Soultrane
- Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette
- The Cats (with Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Burrell)
- Lush Life
- Settin' the Pace
- Standard Coltrane
- Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
- Stardust
- Dakar
- The Believer
- Black Pearls
- Bahia
- The Last Trane
- Two Tenors
albums
- Blue Train
- Coltrane Time
albums
- Giant Steps
- Bags & Trane (with Milt Jackson)
- Coltrane Jazz
- My Favorite Things
- Olé Coltrane
- Coltrane Plays the Blues
- Coltrane's Sound
- The Avant-Garde
albums
- Africa/Brass
- Coltrane
- Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- Ballads
- Impressions
- John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
- Crescent
- A Love Supreme
- The John Coltrane Quartet Plays
- Ascension
- Meditations
- Kulu Sé Mama
- Expression
- Om
- Cosmic Music (with Alice Coltrane)
- Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things
- Transition
- Sun Ship
- Infinity
- Interstellar Space
- The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2
- First Meditations
- Dear Old Stockholm
- Stellar Regions
- Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
- Blue World
Miles Davis
- Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet
- 'Round About Midnight
- Cookin'
- Relaxin'
- Milestones
- Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
- Kind of Blue
- Jazz Track
- Workin'
- Steamin'
- Someday My Prince Will Come
- Miles & Monk at Newport
- Basic Miles
- At Newport 1958
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
- 1958 Miles
- Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
Thelonious Monk
- "Live" at the Village Vanguard
- Live at Birdland
- New Thing at Newport
- Live at the Village Vanguard Again!
- Live in Seattle
- Live in Japan
- Afro Blue Impressions
- The Paris Concert
- The European Tour
- Live Trane: The European Tours
- Bye Bye Blackbird
- Newport '63
- The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings
- The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording
- Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up
- Offering: Live at Temple University
- A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
- Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
- Alternate Takes
- The Best of John Coltrane
- The Classic Quartet – Complete Impulse! Studio 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
- 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
- "26-2"
- "Alabama"
- "Blue Train"
- "Central Park West"
- "Countdown"
- "Equinox"
- "Giant Steps"
- "Impressions"
- "Lazy Bird"
- "Moment's Notice"
- "Mr. P.C."
- "Naima"
- "Ogunde"
- The Church of Saint Coltrane
- The World According to John Coltrane
- Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
![]() | This 1960s jazz album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e