Customer Reviews

Live at Halfnote

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Because of the absence of information about dates and personnel as well the uneven quality of the recorded sound, not to mention Coltrane's performance itself, this album cannot be recommended for the uninitiated. Spend a couple of extra bucks and purchase "Live at Birdland" or "A Love Supreme."

But if you're a student of Coltrane, this particular recording of "I Want to Talk about You"--not at all like the version on "Live at Birdland"--offers a fascinating glimpse at Coltrane's creative process. It begins with cracked notes and unsustained tones, as Coltrane quickly yields to an extended solo by the pianist (McCoy? clearly so on the other 3 tracks but not necessarily on this). Then Coltrane reenters the fray, rejuvenated and ready for action. When he restates the melody and gets to the final dominant chord, scene of his virtuosic cadenza on the "Live at Birdland" recording, he submits himself to a greater challenge than on that date. Instead of exploring all of the chord substitutions, extensions, harmonics on the dominant chord alone, he touches base with the entire song--refrain, bridge, closing refrain--in the midst of another unaccompanied cadenza extraordinaire. It's not the unfaltering pyrotechnical display of the "Birdland" date, but in it's own way it's no less impressive and belongs in the collection of any true believer.

As the other reviewers have noted, this CD (a budget reissue of previously bootlegged material) has an incorrect track listing. "Brazilia" is actually a duplicate, identical performance minus 30 seconds, of "Song of Praise". "One up, One Down" is cut off at the end. The sound quality is also somewhat lacking, at least compared to most of the officially released live Coltrane from the '60s. Is this set still worth buying? The answer is definitely yes, if you're a serious Coltrane fan; at only (low price), 37 minutes (plus 19 duplicated) of quality live Coltrane is a bargain. "I Want to Talk About You" is excellent even if it has a few flubs at the beginning and doesn't quite match the officially released Live at Birdland version. The 20 minute long "Song of Praise" showcases Coltrane's fierce, expressionistic '65 playing and justifies the purchase of this set. It may be worth searching for a better release of this material, but if you can't wait or are on a tight budget (low price!!!) then you should buy this.

This is a fascinating listen for serious John Coltrane lovers, and you can't beat the price. However, the second song (Brazilia) is, in fact, an edited version of the third track. And the first notes of "I Want to Talk About You" are cracked, warbly, and harsh, making me nearly regret my purchase at first. But John and the band do a wonderful version of the song, and the sound quality isn't awful- better than, say, the Monk/Coltrane Live album, but not a sonic masterpiece like Live at Birdland. Not an essential album, but a nice discovery for the Trane fan.

"Brazilia" and "Song of Praise" are in fact two copies of the same track! "Song of Praise" just has the opening 5 seconds cut. These are elusive heads; it took me several listenings before I noticed this. So this CD is effectively 20 minutes shorter than its jacket says. Great music, though.

John Coltrane's "Live At The Half Note" on the Laserlight label is an excellent look at what is arguably jazz's greatest quartet - the "Classic Quartet" of Trane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones - in an intimate club setting. It is during performances like these, where Coltrane had the ability to stretch out and play at length, improvising and creating on the spur of the moment, that he further developed his signature, searching style. According to the liner notes, these four tunes - "I Want To Talk About You," "Brazilia," "Song Of Praise" and "One Up, One Down" - were recorded in 1963 at the Half Note. However, someone is lying! The reason I say this is I also have a live Coltrane CD called "Live At Birdland And The Half Note," and three of these exact same recordings are featured on that disc (only "Brazilia" is not). This CD on the Cool & Blue label credits "I Want To Talk About You" and "One Up, One Down" as being from a 2/23/63 date at Birdland, not the Half Note, while "Song Of Praise" was documented at the Half Note, but from 5/7/65, and not 1963 as the Laserlight disc claims. I tend to believe the information on the Cool & Blue disc is correct, not only because the liner notes are more detailed, but because "Song Of Praise" and "Brazilia" are better quality recordings, and clearly not from the same date as "I Want To Talk About You" and "One Up, One Down." Potential historical inaccuracies aside, the Laserlight disc will be a welcome addition to any Coltrane collection. The sound is excellent and the performances are first rate.

I give it more like 3.5 stars.

This unofficial recording (euphemism) has poor sound quality, particularly the last cut, which ends abruptly just as Jimmy Garrison begins a bass solo. It also begins jarringly with Trane muffing the intro to "I Want to Talk About It." He squeaks and cannot hit the high note, amazingly enough. Yes, he was human, but he did not give up. He roars back after McCoy's solo and the cadenza is extraordinary. Who can play like this today?

As noted in other reviews, one is distressed to find twenty minutes of duplicated material between the second and third cuts. Yet that piece is a sonic masterpiece of transcendent saxophone soloing over a haunting and expansive theme. It takes me to other places (within and beyond), and I forget about the bootleg sound quality. One can sense Trane's transition toward more "free" playing, but within the ingenious structure of the Jones, Garrison, Tyner miracle unit. That creative foundation supporting Trane was largely lost when Jones and Tyler left (probably not long after this was recorded).

We Trane students want to absorb and savor all we can, even despite poor production values and utterly inept formatting. There was something unique and irreplaceable about John Coltrane, particularly when he was with the "classic quartet." So, I am thankful for another gift, another taste of this sweet music.

Douglas Groothuis