Customer Reviews

Stellar Regions

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i found this cd in the used bin and decided to pick it up because it was on the cheap. normally i would hesitate to buy MORE late era coltrane - i mean how much do i need, right?

boy was i wrong... i loved this album from the very first time i put it on the stereo.

i would recommend that this be the first late era coltrane cd that you purchase if you're not versed in abstract/avant music. why? because it's just as complex as coltrane's releases that surround it, but it's easier to get initially get into.

how can that be? i mean, how can something be just as complex, yet more accessable? it's because of the feel of the record. with Ascension and Interstellar Space, the music was not only insanely complex, but also almost harsh on the ears. the volume and the (i hesitate to use the word) harshness of those records provided the listener with an additional barrier they had to break through before they could get into the record. here, that barrier is gone.

the music, while complex and abstract, has a very soothing feel to it. the title is very befitting, as coltrane's notes sound as beautiful and natural as stars in the sky. his wife, alice, plays piano here, and her spacey, beautiful contribution complements the music perfectly. even when the music is impossible, the sound is always inviting. that's what i love about this - it sounds natural, beautiful and complex. for those who have been hesitating to get late era Coltrane, this is the place to start.

gorgeous.

This was one of John Coltrane's last studio sessions. It is obvious here that what he had in mind in the studio was very different from what he had in mind for his live performances. The studio was a laboratory for him; he experimented constantly during recording sessions. Stellar Regions represents yet another of his studio explorations in which he stretched the neverending limits of free jazz. To be complelety honest, some of the music here is very resemblant of classical music, especially "Seraphic Light," "Iris," "Jimmy's Mode," and the title track, which is actually "Venus" from Interstellar Space, not "Stellar Regions," as Alice Coltrane mistakenly titled it when she helped put together this posthumous release.

The music on this album gives some good clues as to what sort of stuff Coltrane may have done had he lived on into the '70s: shorter pieces, longer, more developed melodies (which he briefly explored on Living Space with the classic quartet), and extensive study of different modes and harmony. Of course, he was always exploring the melodic and harmonic aspects of the music, but he never focused that much on rhythm. Toward the end of his life, he said that he wanted to experiment more with rhythm and different ways to use rhythm. Rashied Ali was the perfect drummer for that. He developed a method of playing freely but still counting in his head; it was just brilliant. The absence of Pharoah Sanders here may also be indicative of what Coltrane had in mind. Maybe he just wanted to go back to working with a quartet in the studio, while still using an expanded lineup for live performances (The Olatunji Concert, Coltrane's last recording before his death, is an amazing exploration featuring both Trane and Pharoah.. one of the greatest recordings ever made). Who knows what may have been in store for us (and him) if Trane had lived just a little bit longer. A week after Stellar Regions was recorded, Coltrane went back into the studio with only Rashied Ali to record a suite-like collection of duets honoring the cosmos. Who knows, maybe he was planning to record some solo performances.

As always, the music here is absolutely wonderful. This was a wonderful group, and it's too bad that a lot of people bailed on Trane once he started trying new things. Every solo he takes here is priceless; the same goes for the other three musicians. Also, I would like to point out an interesting thing about this album: Coltrane plays alto sax on both takes of "Tranesonic." I'm not 100% sure, since he is only listed as playing the tenor, but it definitely sounds like an alto to me. I believe another reviewer pointed this out as well. I know that he and Pharoah received complementary altos from Yamaha during their tour of Japan, and they played them at their performances there (they can be heard on the Live In Japan box set). Stellar Regions was Coltrane's next recording session after the tour, so I would assume that Trane would have wanted to use the smaller horn at least a little bit in the studio. I didn't even notice it at first, seeing as how Trane played in the high register a lot anyway, but the alto just rings differently from the tenor.

This is an amazing collection of compositions and improvisations from a master of Sound. Don't waste your money on something you won't understand, though. Only buy this if you are open to enlightenment.

I like to think of Coltrane's prestige years as a time of myth. His time with Bethlehem, Blue Note and Columbia (w/ miles) his education. His Atlantic Years as his "prime" as an entertainer and touring musician. And finally his Impulse! years as a period in time that took him from being a very spiritual artist to an absolute GOD. He seemed to get more and more far out as his life came to an end. Miles davis said (after coltrane's death) "John took it so far out and just left it there, he was the leader, nobody knows what to do with it now". allegedly starting a few months before this recording and really peaking during the sessions, John was getting haunting visions of GOD whenever he played music. He didn't know he was sick but he knew he was going to die. You can definately hear that in this music. It's amazing this stuff collected dust for so many years. I have every Coltrane Impulse! album as well as bootlegs and japanese only releases. This one is my very favorite. This is the one I go back to time and again. This album gets me higher than any herb or chemical ever has. I can not recommend it enough.
If you are looking for a blown mind start here then pick up "ascension", "interstellar space", and the "village vanguard master takes". you won't be sorry.

This is late Coltrane, and takes on special significance because he died some few months after the recording. Apparently his wife, Alice Coltrane, named a number of the sections, including the Album title. I find myself drawn to many of these sections (my particular favorite is for now, Sun Star--both takes), but I believe all of the recording to be powerfully charged and engaging. It is a work reflective of Coltrane's spiritual struggle, and effort toward transcendence, mirrored by, in this recording, his explorations of the upper ranges of the tenor saxophone. For sure, there is dissonance in the work (which is no doubt why I generally don't listen to it all in one sitting, but prefer to hear different sections at different times), but the music succeeds for me wonderfully, as an embodiment of Coltrane's own earthly travails (early in his life, he'd been trapped in drugs and alcohol, and in this work, he may well have had intimations of his own impending death), and black people's travails and mankind's in general; and when the more melodic lines do come through--clear and compelling--it's as if Coltrane (who had become a vegetarian and taken to reading Eastern literature, including the work of Krishnamurti) is saying that the higher spiritual realms are worth the agony of the struggle and can be reached! I'm not troubled by definitional issues that others may have, i.e., is this jazz or not? Coltrane, a man beyond constraining schools of music, was driven to create something new and vital, and to make his best artistic statement. If one is looking for more traditional music, or sugar-coated melodies (jazzed-up), I would not recommend this recording. If one is open, however, to a broader range of musical experience, I believe this recording is one very much worth having.

It's hard to believe that these vital recordings were basically hidden in a closet for three decades. These eight pieces, three of which have alternate takes, feature Coltrane's last working unit -- a quartet with Alice Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, and Rashied Ali. (Pharoah Sanders was also a member of the group, but does not appear here.) Unlike the marathon '66 live recordings, each piece is below the 9 minute mark.

Novices beware: this music is firmly in free jazz territory. The music is definitely calmer than that of the '65 Classic Quartet. Rashied and Alice provide a much mellower, though less predictable, backdrop to Trane's explorations than McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones did. Alice plays the piano with a tonally ambiguous, floating sound; Rashied provides a panrhythmic cushion. Trane's playing is even more abstract than it was in '65, but in terms of technical command he was at the peak of his game.

Most of the music is of a meditative nature -- Trane plays an incantatory melody over floating rhythm, then goes wherever he wants. "Seraphic Light", "Sun Star", and "Stellar Regions" are incredibly beautiful. "Configuration" and "Tranesonic" (one of the few tracks where Trane played an alto sax) feature fiercer playing with some incredible (or horrifying), intense playing.

If you're interested in John Coltrane's 1967 music ("very late Coltrane") you should probably start with Interstellar Space, which features just saxophone-drum duets. This is an excellent second choice. Afterwards check out the monumental Olatunji Concert and the slightly less exciting Expression, which features the same performance of "Offering" as on Stellar Regions.

Coltrane's music was always spiritual. His sound, even in the 50's, always had that yearning, that searching quality. The searching never stopped, and in 1964, with "A Love Supreme", Coltrane added a religious content to his music, also through his song titles. That religious feeling was always universal, and in a way even Pagan - focusing on space and the cosmos.

This marvellous CD, was apparently titled by Coltrane's wife Alice, after his death. The general direction is outer space - Stellar Regions, Tranesonic, Sun Star. There is also Jimmy's Mode, a rather Bopish name, and Offering, Iris, and Configuration - earthy but spiritual.
This diversity is not reflected in the music. This is one of the most coherent albums I have ever heard. It seems Coltrane was absolutely sure of what he wanted to do at that moment in his ending life. Coltrane's sound is sharper than ever, and the urgency of it is as deep as it ever was. Going back to a quartet after a period of larger ensembles, Coltrane plays some of the more magical Tenor of his magical career.
Despite the spacy titles, this music is for me deep Earth, deeply Human, and deeply Enriching. Every human being should listen to it.

This is one of Coltrane's last and greatest albums. Like many of Coltrane's later outings the music sounds very 'out there' and at the same time it sounds so direct and almost spiritual, to risk sounding vague and mystical. Coltranes purposeful and determined approach as well as his willingness to experiment make him, along with Sonny Rollins, one of the key figures of the era (and any era for that matter). This album also boasts some of Coltrane's most beautiful compositions like 'Sun Star' and the title track 'Stellar Regions'. Also there are some almost crazed, trance like moments as in 'Offering'. Coltrane was completely in his element throughout the 60's and on this recording it is also evident that this man was a visionary.

This, along with Interstellar Space show Coltrane to be a powerful free player because his technique is complete. It is obvious that he can do anything he wants with his horn.

Transonic is a standout for me along with configuration.

I am amazed that it took 30 years for this music to surface since it is far superior to the final release chosen by Trane - Expression. While this is not for everyone, its not as forbidding as some make it out to be.

As you may have guessed from the other reviews, no, Coltranes late work is not very accesible. If you liked "Giant steps" and "A love supreme", and are expecting more of the same, forget it. This bears more resemblence to Ornette Colemans work.

The music is quite dissonant, with Coltrane bending notes out of tune and shrieking for expressive purposes. However, there is not as much shear "loudness" as there is on recordings such as "meditations" (where Sanders loudly honks through the album).

Jazz newbies are well advised to start from the early recordings and work their way up to this. On the other hand, Coltrane fans who've heard the late classic quartet material in the Impulse! box set (such as "First Meditations") and would like to explore more of Tranes experiments in free jazz will find this interesting.

This Coltrane is just another solid album. Seraphic Light is the best song on the album. This was recorded right before Interstellar space in February of 1967,5 months before Coltrane died of liver cancer.