Customer Reviews

New Thing at Newport

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

 

 

Recorded in the summer of 1965, this album throws the listener into a maelstrom of two jazz titans unafraid to test not only their musical boundries, but the listener's as well. The title, "New Thing at Newport" refers to the avante garde style of jazz Coltrane and Shepp unleash throughout the set. The first two tracks are Coltrane's "classic" quartet of McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. The first track , "One Down, One Up" is a beautiful example of what made this group so incredible. Tyner's soulful melodic chording and lithe solo lines, Jones' detonating sonic assault of his trap set, Coltrane's roaring, honking, and upper scale screetching, all wound around Garrison's pulsing bass work. "My Favorite Things", offers a more delicate form of power. Where the opening track is a rampaging loping dynamo, this version of one of 'Tranes most famous pieces is a soaring majestic exploration. Coltrane's music from 1961 on, especially after '65, tends to either grip or repulse the listener with the same intensity. This material is difficult, not as dense as Sun Ship, Ascension, Om, or Meditations, and may not be for the uninitiated. The second section features, Archie Shepp, who managed to do something few tenors of the avante garde era did, develope his own sound outside of Coltrane's influence. Shepp's tenor possesses a warm distinctive rasp that he collects into searing airy clusters. This parched tone is masterfully demostrated during an extended vamp on the track "Call Me By My Rightful Name". His set, while less dense than 'Trane's, is challenging. The group Shepp fronts consists of the distinctive vibeist, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Chambers on drums, and Barre Phillips on bass. Phillips bows a haunting intro for the mournful spoken word lament for herion junkies on "Scag". Hutcherson's percussive, jagged approach adds a surreal atmoshpere to the material. The entire group really drives into "Rufus..." listen to Hutch absolutely go crazy behind Shepp's blistering vamp before tearing into his own solo. All listeners not familiar with these artists, or the jazz avante garde may wish to tread with caution. This music is intense and uncompromising. People with an open ear for new music are encouraged to check this disc out. After this cd finished I felt myself echoing the audience at the end of "My Favorite Things" pleading with the artists to return to the stage for more!

A fantastic CD in every way except for the HORRIBLE treble-biased sound.

Both the Trane and Shepp performances are strong, unfortunately the audio mix on the CD release is poor. The bass is extremely quiet, even after cracking up my sub-woofer the bass is still barely audible. The lack of bass does more than produce a difficult to listen to twangy sound. In this type of music it is the bass the joins the rhythm of the drums to the melody of the saxophone. Without the musical glue provided by the bass lines the music does not make sense. So enjoy this excellent music and crack that bass!

Shepp and Trane don't share the stage here. Each perform with their working groups at the time. Strangely, Shepp fares better than Coltrane. One Up has never been one of my favorite Coltrane tracks and this might be the weakest of all the officially released My Favorite Things, That said even a weaker Trane set from this time period is worth having.

Shepp on the other hand, makes great use of the rare opportunity to play at such a big festival. He and his group play a set that showcases Shepp's compostional skills and their group empathy. Shepp was never a completely "free" player. His dramatic background would lead him to utitlize his compostions as storytelling. He was branded radical for his "protest themes" speaking about the plight of African-Americans.

I don't have too much to add about this album other than what's been said, but I do have to say I STRONGLY but respectfully disagree with Stephen. I think this version of "My Favorite things", though it does slow down, is one of the most intense Coltrane performances ever. I first heard it about 4 years ago, and I still play it continuously; Trane is really burning the saxophone on this one. I'm not a big fan of Archie Shepp's, though his material is fairly strong on this album, and "One Down One Up" is decent... but "My Favorite things" MADE this album for me. I had to write a review when I read it wasn't that great!

The best way to think about this album is a nice set of Archie Shepp live, with a bonus live Coltrane track thrown in for context.

Never mind all the theories and the musical philosophy: what's here some great live jazz from a historical period - and much more accessible than folks make it out to be. I really enjoyed this one! It sets you up nicely to explore the catalogues of these musicians in further depth, particularly Shepp, Hutcherson and McCoy Tyner, not just Coltrane. But make no mistake the rest of the players on these tracks are all heavy hitters. All worth exploring too.

Any John Coltrane performance is a gift, this included. That summer of 1965, with Trane at his creative apex, he went to Newport to showcase the "new thing." Of course he did "My Favorate Things," and a fantastic performance of "One Up One Down" one of his most underissued pieces.

But this is really Archie Shepp's album. With vibes player Bobby Hutcherson on board, Shepp does a chilling set about the racial uphevil of the era. "Rufus" is a musical paiting of a lynching (the subtitle includes "and his neck snapped," while "Tracks" is a dark exposure of herion addiction. The vibes, the subject matter, the creepy nuances of the music tie this set together conceptually and give it a nightmarish quality. Remember that lynching based on skin color was still a tragic and common fact in 1965 America, so the impact here is extremely potent.

Essential

this is not john coltrane and archie shepp playing together. this is a 1965 performance at the newport jazz festival of each players seperate quartets. it starts with 2 coltrane tracks, which cover roughly 28 minutes of time, and finishes with 5 by archie shepp's quartet, his set running roughly 33 minutes. coltrane's performance is, as usual, spectacular, and all traneheads should acquire this cd. shepp's stuff is wonderful, too. i have only 2 archie shepp cds in my collection, and after hearing this performance, i came to the conclusion that this is not acceptable. i need to dig deeper into the man's discography. mr shepp and his quartet are inventive and play with intensity and fire. not easy listening jazz. and this will not be for everybody. but it certainly is for me. coltrane fans should definitely love this entire disc.

Contrary to what the previous reviewer said, I think this is the best legal version of My Favorite Things. It is similar to the Newport 63 version, but has a new surge of power thanks to Trane's development of new musical ideas. The one snag is that, for som reason, McCoy Tyner chooses to slow the tempo down during his solo; and Trane seems infected by this several times during his solo.

One Down and One Up is a typical Trane theme for 1965; i.e. a tune made up of about four notes, repeated ad nauseum with an ever-rising sense of hysteria. This is a fine performance, but I must admit I find Trane's minimalism from 1965 rather annoying (see Sun Ship for a particularly tooth-grating set of tunes...)

At first I was reluctant to buy this album solely becauase I wasn't sure how I would like the vibes. Now they have become one of my favorite aspects of the album. It opens with Coltrane playing "One down, One Up," and "My favorite Things." In Coltrane's set, you can faintly hear somebody chanting something, or trying to sing along, or something. This album was my introduction to Archie Schepp and I think I should like to buy something else by him, because his playing is truly haunting. You can definitely here Coltrane's influence on his playing in his screeches and what not, but he has a very deep and original style. We also get to hear him speak his mind about heroin in "Skag." The vibes are a very nice touch, and after hearing this album I don't understand why they weren't more widely used.