Celebrated saxophonist John Coltrane headlined at the acclaimed Village Gate music venue in the summer of 1961. Coltrane performed with Eric Dolphy and a lineup of A-list musicians including McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones. The soon-to-be-released album ‘Evenings at the Village Gate’ captures the innovative essence that emerged from the pairing of Coltrane and Dolphy, and their short-lived quintet. The album comprises eighty minutes of never-before-heard music, recently discovered at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The performances were originally recorded by engineer Rich Alderson as part of a test of the club’s new sound system.
Coltrane and Dolphy recognized many of their mutually analytic and driving qualities. Deeply interested in harmony, both came of age at the height of bebop, employing vocal-like effects and a wide emotional range in their playing; The combination of their signature sounds—Dolphy’s distinctively bright, sharply-stated voice set against Coltrane’s darker, slurred phrasing—is a unique and evocative feature of their historic run at the Village Gate.
Accompanying the release are essays from two participants from those evenings at the Village Gate, bassist Reggie Workman and recording engineer Rich Alderson. Additionally, historian Ashley Kahn and jazz luminaries Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin offer valuable and insightful essays on the recordings.
Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy will be released by Impulse Records on July 14th.
Photo by Herb Snitzer, courtesy of Crossover Media
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