Customer Reviews

Live in Japan

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"Live In Japan" is a mammoth 4-disc set which documents John Coltrane's first and only concert tour in that country. The occasion took place in July 1966 (exactly one year before Coltrane's untimely death) and this was during the time in which Coltrane's music was at its most free-form, experimental and arguably most innovative. Coltrane's musician personnel had shifted as well. The previous year, drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner had left and were replaced respectively by Rashied Ali and Coltrane's wife Alice. Also joining Coltrane is second saxophonist Pharoah Sanders who made his debut with the dynamic leader on the earth-shattering free-for-all "Ascension". Bassist Jimmy Garrison was the only long-term member of the ensemble to still be in Coltrane's group. Also of interest is the fact that these Japanese concerts find Coltrane (as well as Sanders) performing on alto sax in addition to the unsual tenor and soprano.

As for the music itself, it is loaded with fierce improvisational chops with the ensemble stretching the music to its outer limits. The idea of releasing an album of this material was not initially planned in 1966 so, Coltrane and his group of players took the music into an area of no boundaries or limits whatsoever. Although this set may take a few listens to fully digest, it doesn't take long before the listener is completely emmersed in the music.

Musical standouts in this 4-disc set are as follows:

Afro Blue: Pharoah Sanders' shrieking tenor solo and Coltrane's nearly 20-minute solo on soprano sax which closes the piece.

Peace on Earth (Version 1): Alice Coltrane's beautiful piano solo and John and Pharoah's tenor duet.

Crescent: Jimmy Garrison's extended bass introduction and another standout piano lead from Alice.

Peace on Earth (Version 2): Pharaoh's excellent alto sax spotlight.

Leo: Pharoah's ferocious alto solo, Rashied Ali's extended drum feature, John and Pharoah's catfighting alto duel.

My Favorite Things: Another great extended Garrison bass intro, John performing the melody on alto sax as well as an extended soprano solo in the middle, a flowing piano solo from Alice and another sax duel from John and Pharoah.

"Live In Japan" isn't recommended for a first-time Coltrane listener. However, this is definitely an essential purchase once you've studied his other musical periods and have made it to this, his final period of pure musical exploration. It also should be noted that all of the music in this set was recorded in mono. Despite this, the sound quality is excellent and every musician comes through sharp and clear.

This is late-period Coltrane at its very best!!!

Recorded over two nights in Tokyo, "Live in Japan" shows Coltrane's last band in full flight. Trane (on soprano, alto, and tenor saxaphones and percussion) is joined by Pharoah Sanders (on alto and tenor sax, bass clarinet, and percussion), Alice Coltrane (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), and Rashied Ali (drums). Often maligned as the successor to the much beloved "classic quartet" (with only Garrison left from that band), and for their largely exploratory nature, this is a band largely in transition-- they're finding each other, finding their places together, already some of the bonds are starting to show between the band members that would develop fully by the end of '66, but there's a looseness to these recordings that hadn't existed on a live Coltrane document that adds an interesting spice to the mix. Trane is quoted in the liner notes as stating that knowing you're being recorded tends to cause a tightening up, but he didn't know these shows were recorded, and if that's the result on other contemporary live recordings ("Live in the Village Vanguard Again!"), it shows when compared to this. There are two shows captured here, each is about two hours long and features three pieces.

Now mind you, you need to be ready for things like fourteen minute bass solos or twenty minute sax solos to be able to digest this stuff, and thats not for everyone-- considering that much of jazz was still in the three minute vein (and many of Trane's contemporaries were playing eight or nine minute pieces as extended), this may be a bit much, but there's a lot to hear on these.

Whats interesting is to see how far Coltrane is reaching with his playing, his solos (particularly on tenor, although he also solos on alto and soprano) have a quality of almost incompleteness to them as though he isn't quite where he wants to be yet-- comparing these to the urgency and power of his 1967 recordings, you get the impression that he found it then. But on extended solos on "Afro Blue" and "Crescent", Coltrane is looking. Joining him in this exploration is the mighty Pharoah Sanders, whose playinig is no doubt inspiring, check the alto solo on "Peace on Earth" for a good example of this. The rhythm section is also interesting, although the sound quality tends to force Garrison out when the other instruments get aggressive, he's already developed a rappport with Rashied Ali (who to my ears was a better partner for Trane's exploratory phase than Jones was-- and I've always felt that Trane sought his most sympathetic support from his drummers). Ali's playing is actually breathtaking, his stylistic developments after Elvin Jones left the band is pretty incredible. Coltrane's second wife, Alice, adds a unique touch to the piano-- also a harpist, there's a sparseness to her playing on this recording that I suspect comes from her harp background, that nicely offsets the density of Trane and Pharoah's playing.

The recordings are interesting, certainly worth hearing. Maybe not for everyone, but if you're a fan of Trane's later work, this is essential.

I made the mistake of buying this CD not too long after I started getting into jazz. I must admit I have a strange obsession with long songs, and this CD set is by far the ulitmate. With 2 50+ minute songs and the shortest being over 25 minutes, curiosity just overtook me.

This is a great free jazz record, and I realize this now, but at the time I really didnt get it. It takes some continuous listening to appreciate this music. As for the 50 minute songs, well, I discovered later, that each song begins with an "extended" (as the liner notes call it) bass solo. Try 13-15 minutes. I mean, I am a fan of soloing, but if its BASS, you're bound to run out of ideas when you're dealing with a time frame like that. It is interesting to listen to every once in awhile, but it gets inconvenient when you really just wanna listen to the latter half of the song. This was one downside for me, the other is that the entire 4 CD's are in mono, which doesnt help - once the songs really get going and Pharoah and Trane start dueling the bass is lost entirely.

Other than these things, I really like the record. Trane is just amazing. If you expect the My Favorite Things from the early Trane album, don't bother, its a totally different song. He occasionally plays the verse melody, but he's really into it, and usually the verse is lost in his amazing rolling soloing. Afro Blue is just a great song and the sax is great on it (listen to the ear-shattering screams about 8 minutes in). The two versions of Peace on Earth are amazing as well, neither of which descend into the screeching chaos of the other songs. Leo is the opposite, but its a great song, featuring a great drum solo about 13 minutes in.

So, if you're into free jazz and have got 40 bucks to spare, go for it.

I just bought a copy of Live in Japan, with admittedly some trepidation, not knowing whether I would be faced with abhorrent sound quality (Olatunji Concert), uninspired playing (Live at the Village Vanguard Again!), overly-intellectual music that I wouldn't understand (Interstellar Space) or complete [...] (Live in Seattle). When it comes to Coltrane's final years, it is best to be cautious.

Well, I was very surprised, in many ways. I have so far only listened to Disc 1 and Disc 4, but both have been a revelation.

From the beginning of 1966, Coltrane toured with a new band, the Second Quartet, featuring Garrison from his old band, drummer Rashied Ali, pianist Alice Coltrane, and (sometimes) Pharoah Sanders on tenor.

The new band caused outrage and controversy wherever they went. Stanley Crouch visited a Coltrane concert in 1966, and saw Coltrane and Sanders, both with tenor saxophones, just screaming at each other eternally. There were three people in the audience, including himself. Great saxophonist Dave Liebman was a teenager in 1966. He wandered into a Coltrane concert, and found himself confronted with a half hour version of My Favorite Things in which the band members chanted "Om Mani Padme Om" while shaking tambourines and hitting bells. Liebman says that, after the theme was stated once, there was literally nothing recogniseable - just screaming.

This period of Coltrane's music is puzzling even to many great musicians. It is doubly puzzling to us now, because almost no recordings were made by the band in 1966. During that year, for some reason, no recordings were made - not even bootlegs or radio broadcasts - except for the Village Vanguard performance, and two concerts recorded by Japanese radio in July 1966.

Coltrane and his band recorded an enormous amount in 1965 and 1967. The vital, controversial year of 1966 is a howling void.

I was unimpressed by Live at the Village Vanguard Again, which I regard as being supremely overrated. The version of "My Favorite Things" seemed sluggish, the soloes somtimes verging on the banal, and the band often lacking co-ordination. It was therefore with great interest that I bought these Japanese concerts.

I have been disappointed before with Coltrane concerts. "Live in Seattle" is still probably the Coltrane recording I dislike most. But I was hoping for something with the majesty and power of the Olatunji Concert. What I did not expect was wonderful peace and joy.

The Penguin Guide describes the version of My Favorite Things on this album as "the equivalent of bombing Nagasaki just days after laying waste to Hiroshima". It goes on to wonder as to the musical worth of "music as humourless and God-bothering as this".

I must say I found the opposite to be the case. Coltrane may not be a laugh a minute, but I found the atmosphere on this recording to be surprisingly cordial and light. Whereas you could justifiably call "Live in Seattle" humourless and God-bothering (as well as "trippy" and "blatantly inept") I found the Japanese concerts to completely change my view of Coltrane's later period.

After reading articles by eyewitnesses to Coltrane's 1966 style, I was expecting something harsher and weirder. Instead, we have here completely sane and engaging sample of music.

"Afro-Blue" begins with Coltrane playing the theme, as always, and launching on a three minute solo. Then Pharoah Sanders squawks, farts and quacks for ten minutes (I must say, I still cannot get used to Sanders' style at all). Alice Coltrane plays a rare solo after that; then Coltrane blows everything out of the water with a raging soprano solo that cuts up the tune in every way possible. At one stage he plays screeching, toneless phrases obviously inspired by Sanders, though with far more musical judgement. The atmosphere is fierce and bloody, but there is a certain classical tidiness to it, which is a stark contrast to the version on Live in Seattle, which I would rate the worst thing on that album.

"Peace on Earth" (written, of course, during the Vietnam War) is a stunningly beautiful theme I have never heard before. Coltrane's solo is heartfelt and a voice of protest in a world of violence. Sanders' solo after this is also surprisingly beautiful, thus showing that he can solo without screaming after all. A very beautiful performace.

"My Favorite Things" is, of course, a piece that Coltrane played every night. He played it even when he went avant garde. Coltrane starts off with alto-saxophone, an instrument he last played with Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s. He takes full advantage of the horn, making it a pity he never played the instrument much. The sound takes advantage of the lighter sound of the horn, while the low-register honks show you what a soprano couldn't do. Pharoah Sanders' solo is again not worth talking about. Alice Coltrane then enters, playing the My Favorite Things theme in such a harmonically altered way that it is literally unrecogniseable unless you are actively listening for it. Then Coltrane comes in on soprano in a thrilling solo that always touches base with the atmosphere of the original. It is a world away from the tepid version from the Village Vamguard, and also from the ferocious version on Olatunji Concert.

The sound quality, by the way, is incredible. While it is mono, and there is too much tape hiss, the sound of the two horn players comes through stunningly clear and wonderful. The timbre of Coltrane's horn (especially his alto) is actually better here than on most Impulse recorded live stuff. It is certainly better than the echo-y sound from most of his European concerts. I dont know if the Japanese used better microphones, but there is a silky sound to the horns that I've not heard elsewhere.

Overall, the Live in Japan concerts (at least the two discs I've heard) are a surprisingly beautiful recording that should be more widely available. I would vote it as second only to Olatunji Concert in documenting this band live.

I just noticed that the COMPLETE LIVE AT THE VV RECORDINGS 4-disk set is ranked 5,000 and that this 4-disk set is ranked 43,000 as far as purchases from this site. This set certainly does not deserve to be so much lower than other similarly-priced Coltrane cd's. The playing in this set is beautiful, ruthless, and exploratory. This isn't the "classic quartet" but this group made music of awesome power and beauty. For my money, Alice Coltrane is one of the most overlooked pianists in jazz history and I don't know why. She is fantastic throught this set. This is Coltrane at some of his scariest, the only way this set could be better is if it were 10 cd's.

While this isn't my favorite Trane album, you really have to give it 5 stars. What else can you say about an album with 2 60+minute tunes? Sometimes everything doesn't click, true, but the fact that these musicians had the grapefruits to explore and let their music unfold for 60 minutes deserves the highest accolades. I, personally, find this period of Trane's playing to be his best. He was searching for a higher meaning in his life, and you can hear it in his music. Not always clean and perfect technique, but always a beautiful sonic landscape is created for us, the listeners. This is definately not for the casual jazz listener or beginning Coltrane fan. It IS for the hardcore Coltrane junkie, or for those who want to be shocked, and have their ideas of what is traditional jazz challenged.

First things first; 'Trane isn't a mere jazz musician; the man, his sound and his vision, combine to form a cultural phenomenon of the first rank,one that has only burned all the brighter since his untimely death in July 1967. His genius has spread far beyond the confines of Jazz- ask Roger McGuinn, Bono, The Verve, Chuck D, The Beastie Boys, and the congregation of a certain church in San Francisco, if you don't believe me. This particular release is a must for any self-styled 'Trane fanatic, in that it contains both the best and the worst of his vast body of music. For example, Jimmy Garrison's long-winded bass solo introduction to "My Favorite Things" would try the patience of an army of saints, but the rest of this 57(Yes- FIFTYSEVEN) minute version burns like Magnesium. Elsewhere on this wonderful set, Pharoah Sanders is a particularly fine presence on "Leo", setting off on his own cometary trajctory into the abysses of a 45- minute extemporisation that leaves the listener gasping for breath. As you can guess, this is not for those who like brevity.But for those of us who like to roam around the outer darknesses of improvisatory music at it's fiercest and most righteous, "Live In Japan" needs to be heard.

an epic live event. John Coltrane in japan! this 4cd set is one of the most surprising and amazing live albums of all time. surprising in the fact of how controlled this band is. the music John was recording at this period in his creative life was far more turbulent than what is presented here in japan. alot of his more "out there" stuff would have been what i would have expected him to play if i was attending these concerts. now, there is plenty of wild playing...and some skronk here and there. but everyone sticks to some very tight and beautiful stylings...even Pharoah Sanders. wow. actually, Pharoah is a revelation on here. his playing is shockingly fluid and full of melody and grace. perhaps the eastern climate cooled everyone down a bit...or jetlag maybe? haha. well, whatever the reasons, there can be no denying that this is wonderful music. also great to hear Jimmy Garrison getting lots of extended solo time. his playing is astounding and quite creative. if i had to pick my favorite disc out of all these 4, i would have to go with disc 3. the combination of the serene "Peace On Earth" segway into the fiery "Leo" is the kind of magical music that will leave your jaw on the floor. unbelievable! Live In Japan deserves 5 stars and high recommendation. it stands the test of time as a further testament to Coltrane's power, beauty, genius, and eternal search for the higher plane. a document of perfection in mammoth proportions.

I own a couple of dozen John Coltrane albums, and after taking a few years to get into his "post-A Love Supreme" output, albums like Acension, Sun Ship, Meditations, and Interstellar Space have really grown on me. I put off buying Live in Japan for years...then, after reading the Nisenson book--which, as a biography, I came away with mixed feelings about--and discovering that he and I had similar opinions about most of John Coltrane's albums (the most notable exception being Ascension, which isn't perfect, but hardly the "audacious failure" that Nisenson called it), I decided to follow his recommendation and finally get this album.

I could write a lengthy dissertation about all of the reasons--musical and otherwise--that I feel an affinity with John Coltrane and his music, but I will refrain from that here. At its best, I find his "free" music utterly hypnotic and time-suspending; esp. pieces like "Chasin' the Trane" (11/2/61), his take on "Out of this World," and much of the aforementioned 1965-67 albums...but most of Live in Japan just didn't do it for me. I listened to the entire album three times (once in an entire sitting, and twice by listening to individual tracks over the course of a couple of days) I'd just start to get into it, and Sanders would start honking and squeaking, or JC himself would shriek into a realm with which my ears could not abide...and they would stay in these auditory environs longer than I would ever really want to listen to again. I repeatedly found the saxophone solos to disrupt the flow of the music, lapsing into a distracting din just when they were starting to reach that "mesmeric" feel that I find appealing in Coltrane's best "free" work. I admire the stamina and fortitude of anyone who can listen to this album with any regularity.

This album was not without it's pleasant surprises. First of all, the sound quality is excellent, and no apology needs to be made for the fact that it is a mono recording. As far as the music itself goes, I agree with the reviewer who thought that "Crescent" was the highlight of these sets; and contrary to some dismissive remarks about Jimmy Garrison's lengthy bass solos, I found his modal intro to "Crescent" to be one of the highlights of the whole album, reminding me of a North Indian raga; I also felt that Alice Coltrane's ethereal solo on this track was her best on the album. Overall, I found "Crescent," and the second version of "Peace on Earth," to be the best tracks on this album, by far. I enjoyed more of the hour long "My Favorite Things" than I might've expected, but sadly, not enough; and of the two pieces that were preceded by Garrison solos, unfortunately this one was sunk by the more banal of the two: a meandering 15-minute intro that had me wishing that it was either separately tracked, or that I could swap it with the intro to "Crescent."

The highlight of the opening track, "Afro Blue," was easily Alice Coltrane's solo--most of her solos on this album were a breath of fresh air, making me scratch my head as to why her piano playing has been so maligned by some critics. "Leo" is the most "unlistenable" track of the collection, imo.

I'm not really buying the "self indulgent" tag placed on Coltrane's playing here. Yes, he may have been so emboldened by the reception of the Japanese people that he decided to really "air it out" here...but it just feels to me like he had reached an impasse in his quest for "pure sound," and it's difficult not to feel that if he had lived longer--and in better health than he was in the last few months of his life--he would've charted a different course on his path toward trying to acheive transformation through music than what is heard here, and on his last recordings.

I still prefer Live in Seattle (esp. the first disc of the set), despite it's flaws; and the fact that Jones and Tyner were overshadowed, and already on the way out.

This recording is so much more than mere music or sound, it allows you to witness the artistic process of Coltrane. You can feel the music flowing through his body and out, it is his stream of conscienceness. An unbelievable experience that should not be missed.