Coltrane live is of course a wonderful treat. I just wish I could have been able to seen and experience the classic quartet live myself. Would have been unreal I’m sure. So I have to do with the LP’s they left behind and that’s not a bad deal at all. Love the Impulse! label for all they did to promote post bop and the avant-garde. And Coltrane was in the middle of it all, releasing beautiful albums on the label throughout the 60’s.
This LP is a mix of tunes recorded live at the Birdland club in NYC and a couple of studio recordings. The whirlwind “Afro Blue” which kicks off the album is a frenetic display of improvisational prowess where Coltrane excels on the soprano. The album also contains “Alabama”, the haunting tribute to the four girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 by cowardly white supremacists. It’s difficult to listen to this beautiful tribute as your mind wanders and think of that dark event. It’s one of Coltrane’s best compositions.
A wonderful album that I highly recommend if you haven’t heard it, which I very much doubt.
I hope you’re all doing great and that you are enjoying your collections. Stay safe. Cheers!