Customer Reviews

Four for Trane

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I'm surprised that this album hasn't garnered a little bit more controversy than it has. On one front you can have the Coltrane purists who won't like what he did with almost "sacred" Trane tunes like Naima. On another front are just purists who hate his tone and playing, or don't like his salty personalty. and then there are people who just don't like this type of music at all. Maybe that's why there aren't many reviews (customer wise).

As you probably know, Four For Trane has four songs written by Coltrane, plus an Archie Shepp original with a hilarious title, Rufus (Swung, his face at last to the wind, then his neck snapped). He really breathes such life into the Coltrane tunes even though the needed no such thing on their own. Maybe that's why it's so fresh because he takes them an extra step further. Plus he and Roswell Rudd did some neat arranging and the playing is good in general.

Syeeda's Song Flute, from Giant Steps starts off the disk. Right away you know you're in for something different. To me, the playing sounds a bit more like Ornette Coleman than John Coltrane, this could be due to Charles Moffett on drums who played with Coleman for a while. But the theme is nicely arranged for tenor, alto, and trombone and I like the job they did. Shepp and Rudd solo, and though their lines are great (particularly Shepp's) both of their tones slip a bit (particularly Shepp's!) This shouldn't detract though, because Shepp and Rudd play Awesome! Mr Syms, from the Coltrane Plays The Blues album on Atlantic follows and has some more neat arranging. Everyone blends quite nice, considering the wide range of instruments and tones. We get to hear Alan Shorter (Wayne's almost unknown brother) solo on trumpet, and he's alright, kind of like a Donald Byrd who keeps trying to hit high notes. Cousin Mary, also from Giant Steps, is the third track, and really Smokes. Shepps playing is fantastic as is everyone elses. He really digs into those hoarse barks and screams that he's so famous for. His tone is nasty and mean and his lines really dig down deep. It's a treat to hear him move away from playing the Coltrane tunes like Coltrane (and never sound as good!!!) to a more original and pleasing sound. Shorter gets another solo in, and then we hear from John Tchicai on alto. His playing is different than Shepp's, and his tone reminds me more of an abstract version of Lou Donaldson. This is the best track on the cd.

Coltrane's "sacred ballad" is next. Pharoah Sanders took much heat for "ruining" it on Coltrane's Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and Shepps's version is much different, much of which comes from Rudd's unusual arrangment. The song takes an intersting twist when it seems to end, and then comes back sounding almost completely different! Shepp again plays down and bluesy. Rufus is the last song, and is quick and snappy (no pun intended). You can really see how the title fits. Special mention must be given to Reggie Workman's bass playing. I think he has progressed so much from his playing with Coltrane in the early 1960's to when this album was recorded in 1964. His tone and his lines both seem more formed and assure of themselves than they had in the past. He is a constant force throughout and Rudy Van Geldner did do a great job recording everyone, particulalry Workman.

Workman, and the 6 others a reason enough to get the album. Better too, before Impulse drops it because they need more time to print the latest Diana Krall cd. It's the real deal... fresh interpretation of Coltrane is always much better than substandard copying (and who can copy Coltrane and play it better??) If you're checking out this review because you have the album already and love it, why don't you also look into the Sam Rivers Boxset, issued on Mosaid Records. The last session is much in the same vein as this record and the arranging (done by Rivers) also hints at his flair for bigband that had yet to come. Both highly recommended!!

This is an awesome record!!! Shepp performs 4 coltrane songs (3 from the classic "Giant Steps" and 1 from "Coltrane plays the blues") as well as his own song "Rufus". The band he has here is stellar:on trombone is Roswell Rudd who would become a valuable partner for Shepp on later albums with a dirty, smeared free-meets-dixieland approach. Alto player John Tchicai played with Shepp in the amazing New York Contemporary 5 along with Don Cherry. His style is quite weird:it sometimes sounds like his saxophone was recorded backwards but it is also very melodic and laid-back. Trumpet player Alan Shorter was the brother of superstar Wayne and plays in a Don Cherry-influenced way. Bassist Reggie Workman played with Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane and has a very fluid way of playing the instrument. He was one of the best bass-players of the 60's. Drummer Charlie Moffett is best known for his work with Ornette Colemans 60's trio. His playing here is slightly more conventional but it still kicks ass and really swings!!!

The best description of the music is probably that Shepp gives the Ornette Coleman treatment to Coltranes music. The players play through the themes (wich sounds very different from Coltrane due to the instrumentation) and then doesn't follow any strict chord-changes in the songs, instead following the mood and tempo
of the song-forms. Shepps playing here is brilliant; his tone isn't so big and dramatic (or as brutal)as it became on later albums, instead he focuses on raw, very bluesy, short, broken phrases with a saxophone sound not so different from the swing-players of the 30's like Ben Webster. If your'e interested in Shepps compositional talent this isn't the place to start but if you just want to hear him rip out one great solo after the other you probably can't find a better Shepp album!!! "Syeeda..." and "Rufus..." are the obvious highlights but everything else is really good too (Shepp and Tchicais solos in "Cousin Mary"!!!). The version of Syeeda... is even better than Coltranes original and features the best moment of the album:Shepp's and Rudd's collective improvisation during the latters solo.

One last note: If you like this album, try to find the records by the NYC5. They are not easily available but definitely worth looking for!!!

Archie Shepp is more famously known for his Fire Music (Impulse!, 1965), his avant-garde antics at the Village Vanguard in the mid-1960s and for his work with Cotrane in the same period, than for Four For Trane, his first recording on the Impulse! label.

The album has renditions of four Coltrane compositions: "Syeeda's Song Flute", "Mr. Syms", "Cousin Mary" and "Naima". The first opens with a richly orchestrated introduction, which is then sharply contrasted against Shepp's tremulous, fractured delivery. Roswell Rudd offers pointed comments in the background and follows with a similarly abstract solo. The trombone had clearly evolved into unrecognisable territory since the days of J.J. Johnson and Kay Winding!

The first bars of "Mr. Syms" almost presage a dark landscape, but Shepp's arrangement is lithe and subtly textured, bringing out the passion in the composition with an understated eloquence. Alan Shorter, older brother of Wayne, contributes a remarkably impressionistic solo, setting the tone for Archie's equally poetic statement. Pity that Alan Shorter's remaining discography is so thin.

Four For Trane is a mysterious album: it is an avant-garde tribute to a living master who had yet to record his most significant avant-garde albums, A Love Supreme (1964), Ascension (1965) and Interstellar Space (1967), all on the same label as Shepp's. Trane himself appears in a contrived portrait on the cover, on which Shepp stares ahead pensively with pipe in mouth.

"Naima" is arguably the most compelling piece on the album - possibly Coltrane's most played "standard", it is magically arranged by Roswell Rudd, comparable to a tone-poem of Ellingtonian profundity. The solos are breezy and almost nebulous in their commitment to non-definition. The performance reveals both a veneration for Coltrane's compositional austerity and formal beauty, and at the same time a bleak conception of emotion far removed from Coltrane's burning urgency.

This fascinating record, a work of clarity and elegance amid the frenzy of the "New Thing", ends enigmatically with a Shepp composition whose title reveals a bizarre humour: "Rufus (Swung, his face to at last to the wind, then his neck snapped)".

I can totally understand why someone would want to play exactly like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, or any other musical giant. However, We must remember that these people became who the were not by trying to sound like others, but by following their own path.
This CD, the first by Archie Schepp as a leader, shows him to be a musician who follows his own path, and creating some great music while doing so.
The music here is not that far out. There are obvious similarities to bebop - in the phrasing, the rhythms - and some fast unison playing ! The differences are important - there is no reliance on chords, the arrangements are more sophisticated. The approach to sound is different.
Schepp style of soloing was already developed by that time (1964) - he had a way of talking with his horn - not preaching - but talking like a man telling about an adventure he had or even explaining his view on some issue. His notes are bent as a rule - he avoids playing un-bent notes. Unlike Ayler or Pharoah Sanders - Schepps playing is less enregy-oriented and more reflective. Just like a man enjoying a friendly discussion (or it may be a heated one).
The other musicians here are fantastic - Roswell Rudd on trombone, John Tchicai on Alto, Allan Shorter on trumpet, Reggie Workman on bass and Charles Moffett on drums. To me it seems they all support Schepp and help in making his debut a success.
Schepp said in one interview that he wants to create new folk music. While his music never became the music of millions, I believe he succeded in making a music that is human and simple in its own way. I dont think his blues singing of the 1990's is the better way to acieve this goal - but then maybe when youv'e created a masterpiece in the early sixties, and followed with so many musical successes - you might as well relax and sing some blues.
If you dont know what to expect from the CD, I can try and help by saying that if you like Ornette Coleman - you would like this music too. If you don't know Ornette but you like Bird - you will get a chance to hear a new "free" version of Bird's style - without the harmonic side of Bird, but with compensations in arrangement freedom and sound production.
This may be the CD for you if you just want some creative original music, that may give you both joy and inspiration.

With his only rival his former boss Miles Davis, John Coltrane was king of the jazz hill in 1964--the link between the old bop men and the young avant players. Naturally, the upstarts wanted to pay tribute.


Shepp was one of those top young players, and uses his band here to cover some Coltrane tracks. Interestingly, the avant-gaurdist goes back to Coltrane's pre Love Supreme work for the material.

These tracks, "Niama" being the most well known, are reworked radically by Shepp. They contain a lot of free elements, but something else is also at work.

Coltrane always perfered his bands giving him a clean backbone to work over. Shepp, at least in this era, perfered his group to have the looseness of a dixiland--don't just listen to this, listen to Shepp's Fire Music for another instance.

These renditions may take some adjustment, but the album is a great way to look at 'Trane music in a different light. Four For Trane is also worth buying for "Rufus," Shepp's track about lynching, played even better the next year on New Thing At Newport.


***Note: link insert not working tonight. Will go back and fix this when able.***

A classic Jazz Album !!! Five tracks written in Jazz history forever !!! A tribute to one of the Jazz Master, John Coltrane !!!

Very energetic. Even though the first four tunes are based on Coltrane compositions, there is little similarity to the originals. This unit's take on the tunes is all its own, and the improvisation is inspired. The final composition is top notch as well.

The whole band just tears it up from beginning to end. Very satifying!