Customer Reviews

Interstellar Space

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1957 John Coltrane recorded his first masterpiece, Blue Train; in 1967, he recorded his last masterpiece, Interstellar Space. Within 5 months of recording these duets with drummer Rashied Ali, he would die of liver cancer.

Though it gets lumped with other "late", post-1965 or avant-garde Coltrane recordings, this album sounds very little like any other Trane recording. Even if you dislike Meditations or Ascension, there's a chance that you'll like this -- and vice versa. The absence of Pharoah Sanders makes this record easier on the ears, and a lot less ferocious. On the other hand people who love the hardcore intensity of stuff like Meditations or Sun Ship may find Interstellar Space to be a little too abstract or austere. The absence of piano creates a lot of space, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on your tastes.

There are still some similarities to Meditations, Sun Ship, etc. -- Coltrane's playing is very free, disregarding harmony and melody for sound. The themes are short and range from serene beauty ("Venus") to dense fury ("Leo"). Though it might seem that this music is random or without structure, the order and structure are just in a different musical language. In some parts, Coltrane is conducting a saxophone dialogue with himself.

I'm a fan of course, and must say that the music is unbelievable. If you're a fan of Trane's saxophone playing, keep in mind that he just PLAYS on this album, with none of his abilities impaired in the least. Rashied Ali is obviously not Elvin Jones, but he complements Trane perfectly and fuels his ideas. As long as you know what you are getting into, this should be one of the first purchases if you want to explore Coltrane's late music. And though very little of his other work sounds like it, the quartet sessions composing Stellar Regions and Expression come from the same time period.

This disc is 60 minutes of some of the most impassioned free jazz you will hear from an innovating giant in the field. Of the myriad posthumously released recordings of John Coltrane, _Interstellar Space_ is certainly one of the most profound.

Part of what makes the album intriguing is that the lineup is unlike anything else Coltrane did. Jazz duos became more common later. The entire album is improvised in duo format with Rasheid Ali on drums. Coltrane could have found no drummer more empathetic than Ali, who is a very different beast than the mighty Elvin Jones. Ali abandons the role of rhythmic anchor and follows Coltrane directly into the free vortex, and the two play against one another in a dazzling swirl of spattering cymbals, clattering rolls, tonally-straining honks and sqruawks, and spitfire runs of 16th notes. The sparse texture purifies the focus on the rich dynamics, intensity, and magical interplay. Meter exists in this music only by implication. The music is played around time signatures, but only rarely do they overtly appear. It's brutally passionate ("Mars"), shockingly beautiful and emotional, (the final third of "Venus"), and wickedly swingin' (for about 15 glorious seconds near the end of "Saturn"). And it's all dangerously jazzy and movingly spiritual.

If you want another masterpiece of monstrous duo free jazz, hunt down _Spots, Circles, and Fantasy_, Cecil Taylor on piano and Han Bennink on drums.

Wow. My uncle is a Coltrane worshipper like myself, and also a jazz drummer, a really smart and wonderful man, but he quits on Coltrane after 1965. We argue about this music from time to time, he refers to it as idiotic or says it doesn't make musical sense, but he's calmed down because he knows how strongly I feel about this music. My ex wife would leave the house every time I put this record on. I confess these points of view just astound me. Here Coltrane breaks through yet again into musical territory that is virgin soil, he was the first here, and really no one has come close since (With all due respect mister Dorward I don't think the Prevost/Parker recordings come close, I love those guys, and I love that recording, but man this music is just too far ahead of anyone else. All the same I agree with you though that people should check those and their other works out too). From this record alone I will say Rashid Ali is the greatest drummer to use a Western drum kit I have ever heard. He doesn't play like a drummer, he plays like a pianist,like Cecil Taylor really, he is concerned with sounds, with novelty, I could listen to a thousand drummers and know him every time, he never really repeats himself, never finds a recurring beat and always sounds new and interesting (it's a shame he never recorded with Derek Bailey or Sonny Sharrock my god what that would have been like!). This record is a duet between Saxophone and drums, how bold is that? Not a sax record with drums keeping the time, but a true duet, with each musician changing, moving, making sounds of beauty, new tones, new rhythm, new space, new moods. Yes, the drums make moods, they even have a sensitive side! My favourite of the pieces is Venus, but I love them all, some of the sounds Coltrane made that are dearest to my heart are on these recordings. God bless John Coltrane and Rashid Ali for this music, it is demanding, intricate, difficult, but it is worth the effort. Back to Prevost, he demands you listen to his "metamusic" and AMM the same way you would read a book,give it your total attention and focus, not a new idea, but to those who view music as entertainment or a mood enhancer/alteration it is good advice. Listen to this music carefully, clear your mind, hear each event, let it speak to you, move through you, let go of all the preconceptions about music that have been put in your head if you haven't already. It doesn't have to communicate verbally or obviously, it doesn't have to have the structures codified by Europeans five centuries ago or time restraints that date back to the running time of a 45 rpm record. Give this a chance like this, just as an experience, it's not meant for entertainment, but for enlightment. Rashid and Coltrane transcend their egos on this one, it can do it for you too, Coltrane beleived the listener was part of the process. And beleive me, the music of John Coltrane can change your life forever. Even if you don't get it at first the effort alone will do so much for your soul and your life. This is one of the key works of Coltranes, and is essential to any record collection, for it is an essential piece of the music of humanity.

"Interstellar Space" is one of the most challenging and interesting pieces ever recorded by John Coltrane-- a duet between Trane (on tenor and bells) and Rashied Ali (on drums), there is little here to hold onto in terms of conventional structure. Additionally, Coltrane plays with such an intensity and fire that as soon as the theme statements are out of the way, his playing can be downright furious. Ali is able to maintain a sensitive accompaniment, joining in the fury that Coltrane shows and occasionally keeping the recordings grounded enough to prevent them from feeling indulgent.

Opener "Mars" should be enough to show the fire and intensity that Coltrane plays with as he tests the dynamic range and potential of his instrument. There is little regard for conventional harmonic structure and Trane pretty much goes to war with Ali. Similar in feel is "Jupiter"-- took me a long time to be able to really get into this (and I *LOVE* free improv). Coltrane springs loose, breaking the boundaries of the instrument, wailing, screaming, playing the sort of fast runs he was known for, "speaking in tongues", he really pulls out all the stops. Whats amazing is that its the briefest piece on the album, yet probably covers the most ground.

One thing that often separates Coltrane from his less interesting contemporaries is his ability to express any number of moods-- "Venus" opens in nearly a ballad form, and while the improvisation proves to be the most challenging, in terms of lack of expected harmonic structure, there is a delicate beauty to the theme statement and his soloing is breathtaking in its range of sound and power. Trane eventualy turns into a man possessed-- moving through two different simulataneous melodies, alternating between ranges of the instrument before bringing it back together. Again, Ali's sympathetic accompaniment shows a nearly psychic bond had developed between these two men in the two years they played together, and when Coltrane seems to be drifting and reaching to the point of sacrificing the integrity of the piece, Ali holds steady and reels him in.

Likewise very much different in mood is the album closer, "Saturn". A feature for Rasheid Ali, opens with a magnificent solo drum performance. Ali shows the complexity of his playing, and in many ways is more conventional-- whereas he was very much texture oriented on the earlier tracks, there's a stronger rhythmic structure below his solo-- it doesn't have that off-beat feel, but its really something as he manages both inside and out. When Trane does come in to state the theme, it is vaguely reminiscent of "India", but again, Coltrane uses this as a springboard, maintaining that sort of dense "India"-ish feel before moving into territory similar to his protege, Pharoah Sanders. While somewhat more melodic than Sanders was at this point, its clear listening to this that the teacher learned from the student, and when the theme comes back in-- we get some nearly straight swing from both Coltrane and Ali that sounds totally brilliant and fits perfectly. Absolutely stunning.

The bonus tracks that augment this CD are equal in quality of performance as the ones that proceed, but may have been left out because they offer even less for the listener to grab onto. "Leo" (originally titled "The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost" on "Meditations"), with its aggressive and somewhat brutal theme, and with only Ali supporting him, Coltrane takes off and never looks back, pushing into the corners of his instrument's potential. Ali gets a feature in this as well, first with a brief solo and then trading with Coltrane-- both men play inspired and with a fire even beyond that of the remainder of the performance. "Jupiter Variation" shows Coltrane exploring the extreme upper register of his instrument and he moves relentlessly between phrases, never stopping.

This album is essential, rewarding, difficult, and rqeuires patience as it has its own way and your ears need time to adjust. It is, however, well worth the wait.

If you are interested in late Coltrane, this is the place to start. Essentially, the album consists of Coltrane going nuts on his saxophone for an hour accompanied by Rashid Ali on drums.
Trane takes simple motives and builds them up to brilliant heights. The album is endlessly listenable, because there are many layers of structure to the improvisations.
Sometimes Trane seems to wander without a tonal centre; other times he clearly uses a tonal centre, sometimes playing things that recall his earlier playing with the "Classic Quartet".
Ali's drumming is fine. It sort of melts into the background, which is just the way it should be. He moves smoothly with Trane's changes in tempo and dynamics. He takes a few relatively short solos.
This album is essential listening for people interested in late Coltrane, free jazz, and modern music in general.

I don't even know how to describe this album. I still don't feel like I should be writing a review for it because I still don't feel like I have gained everything I could from it at this point. This album holds a wealth of so many treasures on it, I sincerely think that you could listen to it thousands of times and gain something new each time. This album is like having a job, the more you put into it, the more you get from it and vice versa. This album isn't going to hand itself to you. You have to subconsiously want to gain something from it. Many will call it noise or racket, true, a tenor saxophone and drums don't seem to make the most complimentary pair to begin with and on this album, Rashied Ali and John Coltrane blast their instruments out of any sterotypical roles they may have had. Ali uses his drumset as more of a tonal palette than a rhythmic timekeeper and Coltrane completely destroys the notion of what a jazz saxophonist "should" play. This was one of the last recordings Coltrane ever made and it is definitely one of his finest. It may seem like atonal noise the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and maybe even tenth listen, but give it time, patience and perseverence and this recording will give you more than you could ever imagine.

Coltrane's last phase is not my favorite, but I think I have found how to listen to these recordings. They obviously don't function as background music, and active listening is also difficult, since there are no chord changes or melody (in any traditional sense) to follow. But if I close my eyes and relax, let the music wash over me, sort of like looking at those 3-D images where you want to unfocus your eyes, this turbulent music makes me very calm. While it's the polar opposite of new age music, I find the music to be meditative.

The above comment was my first reaction to this album, and chances are it'll be yours too. By the time of this final recording John Coltrane was taking wilder and further jumps into space with his playing than ever before. For Interstellar Space he trimmed the usual trappings of a jazz band and recorded the album as a duet with drummer Rashied Ali, which meant that he had to carry the composition, the key and the melody all with a stream of single notes. This would be an intimidating task for even the finest sax players. That Coltrane pulled it off, let alone this consistently, is another pure and simple testament to his harmonic and technical mastery.

Even with him keeping the melody, this will sound like an aimless flow of notes on the first couple listens. It's probably not made any easier by the fact that the opener "Mars" finds Trane and Ali playing like men possessed by the devil; it takes a couple listens to get past the sheer manic frenzy of their playing before you can even pick out the melody. But this is one of those albums that rewards, nay demands, attention and persistence. The slower beauty of "Venus" gives more of a chance to get into the nuances of the music. With repeated spins, the melodies start to come out and Coltrane's passion and technical skill become more and more apparent.

One of Coltrane's masterpieces, and worlds away even from his other highlights Blue Train and Love Supreme, this is a timeless work of art. If you're willing to give it the chance, Interstellar Space will slowly reveal more nuances and layers than you're likely to suspect.

This album is as deep as the ocean. If I could take one c.d. with me on a desert island, this is it. For me, listening to this album has turned out to be an extremely worthwile exploration. I've never heard Coltrane so free, so unrestricted; and as a byproduct of this freedom, you can literally hear him thinking, as he seems to pull countless innovative, fresh, and pure genius improvisations out of thin air, time after time. It's almost as if he knew his time left on this earth was very limited, and he wanted to let all those ideas out that he was holding back for another day. Emotionally, it spans the entire spectrum. I tend to hear expressions of Joy and Eternity quite a bit. In one particular instance, I hear an expression of sheer anger or terror, and it really scares the hell out of me every time I hear it; it is so expressive. I think the abscence of the piano was a great idea, as I feel it can sometimes set limitations. It truly seems that I could listen to this album 1000 times in a row and I would hear something new and innovative every time..I could best sum it up as a complete explosion of ideas, hitting you from all sides.

This disc was recorded only a few months before Coltrane's death; though there are a few later discs, this one remains the great man's most satisfying farewell, & it's one of the few "late Coltrane" albums (read: radically avantgarde music) that has appeal for the less intrepid listener too. Sonically, it's quite gorgeous: Coltrane's tenor (only tenor--no multi-instrumentalism here) is now quite different from when he was playing with Tyner, Garrison & Jones: it's warmer & thicker in sound, with much more vibrato. (I would imagine that Albert Ayler's sound was a major influence here.) The only other player is Rashied Ali, who contributes highly coloured drum parts, whether on sticks or brushes. Each track opens & closes almost ceremonially, with Coltrane ringing bells before turning to the saxophone. The absence of a bassist opens the music up texturally; there's little need for one, anyhow, given Coltrane's iron harmonic & thematic grip on his material: you'll never hear a more lucid demonstration on how to construct long improvisations out of the simplest materials. This rarely steps out into atonal territory, but Coltrane does tend to build his solos around explorations of "ugly" or "freak" notes on the horn, most memorably on "Venus", which begins as almost a hymn, before building into a series of increasingly elaborate runs at ever-higher "false" notes on the scale.

This is radiant, profound music that, unlike much late Coltrane, is eminently approachable. Those who enjoy it should seek out Evan Parker & Eddie Prevost's _Most Materiall_ (Matchless), a 2-CD set of duets in the same sax/drums format; Parker is like the moon to Coltrane's sun, but it's clear that disc 2 was recorded with _Interstellar Space_ very much in mind.