John Coltrane Quartet with Roy Haynes - I want to Talk about you (Live at Newport Festival 1963)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1SaofDEVrk

Preamble

Weird to hear of Coltrane as a “new giant” instead of a instituionalized figure. 1963 was when the trane ballads came out which is one of my favorite albums.

Wikipedia has this to say about this time period: (The Classic Trane Quartet 1962-1965)

In 1962, Dolphy departed and Jimmy Garrison replaced Workman as bassist. From then on, the “Classic Quartet”, as it came to be known, with Tyner, Garrison, and Jones, produced searching, spiritually driven work. Coltrane was moving toward a more harmonically static style that allowed him to expand his improvisations rhythmically, melodically, and motivically. Harmonically complex music was still present, but on stage Coltrane heavily favored continually reworking his “standards”: “Impressions”, “My Favorite Things”, and “I Want to Talk About You”.

The criticism of the quintet with Dolphy may have affected Coltrane. In contrast to the radicalism of his 1961 recordings at the Village Vanguard, his studio albums in the following two years (with the exception of Coltrane, 1962, which featured a blistering version of Harold Arlen’s “Out of This World”) were much more conservative. He recorded an album of ballads and participated in album collaborations with Duke Ellington and singer Johnny Hartman, a baritone who specialized in ballads. The album Ballads (recorded 1961–62) is emblematic of Coltrane’s versatility, as the quartet shed new light on standards such as “It’s Easy to Remember”. Despite a more polished approach in the studio, in concert the quartet continued to balance “standards” and its own more exploratory and challenging music, as can be heard on the albums Impressions (recorded 1961–63), Live at Birdland and Newport '63 (both recorded 1963). Impressions consists of two extended jams including the title track along with “Dear Old Stockholm”, “After the Rain” and a blues. Coltrane later said he enjoyed having a “balanced catalogue”.[56]

Some noodlin’.

Head begins at around 01:25

They start out trying to feel the internal subdivision, i think roy haynes is suggesting straight sixteenth notes but they agree on swung. Also they’re trying to decide whether to play the thing slow or give a double time feel. It really feels like they’re trying to decide whether or not to play it as a softer and more romantic Ballad or not.

Jimmy Garrison is playing some really funky shit in the head.

Roy Haynes here is like a quieter, less motific, less deep Elvin Jones. Not to discredit Roy of course.

I like Roy Haynes three stroke ruff into the bridge. it’s so weird and clean.

Somewhere in the bridge they entirely give up on the ballad idea and now it’s this in polyrhythmic 2-feel forever, they never go back.

Head ends at 02:25

Trane soloing. I don’t really have much to say about Trane’s soloing.

Roy Hayne really likes doing spang alang alang on the ride and doing ah1, ah3 on the snare drum. He also just in general likes shuffling in flourishes. Quarter note triplets everywhere too.

LLK LLK LLK LLK and RLL RLL RLL RLL

I really enjoy Jimmy Garrisons playing here, it’s really playful and solid. I like his closer choices. I feel like I can connect to him here more so than what I’ve heard of Paul Chambers.

Head comes back at 05:39. I dont know the form too well. I think he comes back on the bridge like most ballads.

Track ends at 06:10 then Coltrane does a cadenza. It feels like they were surprised Trane cut the tune short, I’m sure they’re more used to spreading out but maybe that was done because it’s a festival and they only have so much time.

There’s something about listening to a Coltrane cadenza that feels real but listening to some white kid doing it you’re just like shut the fuck up please end the tune.