If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. By contrast, the version here, as much to do with the drum-forward recording as anything, feels somehow more sluggish, Coltrane’s and Dolphy’s motivic Eastern patterns sounding disquieted and imprisoned, like two giant glittering insects trapped in a conservatory and only the duet between Jones and Tyler allowing any sense of escape. Coltrane was a late bloomer. Born in 1926, he came to prominence as a sideman, playing tenor saxophone in Miles Davis’s groups, in 1955, and stayed with him, on and off, through 1960. Though Coltrane made many recordings under his own name throughout that time, only in 1960 did he form his own working band, the core of which, heard here, is the pianist McCoy Tyner and the drummer Elvin Jones. (On “Evenings at the Village Gate,” two bassists, Reggie Workman and Art Davis, perform together.) Dolphy, too, had a long musical gestation. Born in 1928 in Los Angeles, he came to New York in 1959, and began to record as a leader in 1960, but worked mainly as a sideman (notably, in Charles Mingus’s group). In the album’s liner notes, Ashley Kahn quotes an interview with Coltrane from soon after this gig: Coltrane said that he and Dolphy had been “talking music for quite a few years, since about 1954.” He added, “A few months ago Eric was in New York, where the group was working, and he felt like playing, wanted to come down and sit in. So I told him to come on down and play, and he did—and turned us all around.”

This album is an important addition to the work of Coltrane. The chronology shows that. In 1961 the contract with Atlantic was finished and in May and June the Africa/ Brass sessions were completed for Impulse. Africa/Brass was obviously an indication that insurgent ideas would be followed. The inclusion of Eric Dolphy during the engagement at the Village Gate during the summer was important. He had worked on the Africa/Brass sessions. The playing at the Village Gate in the summer is a foretaste what the Quintet would achieve at the Village Vanguard in the autumn. The Impulse albums were groundbreaking and set the pattern before the group set off for the European tour promoted by Norman Granz which started immediately after the Vanguard engagement. Some rediscovered archival recordings by great musicians are more noteworthy for their news value than for their artistic significance. Others are treasures that extend a view of the artists’ achievements without transforming it; these are more meaningful for connoisseurs than for general listeners. But a newly recovered recording that was released last week, “Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy,” featuring performances taped at a leading New York jazz club in August, 1961, has a singular place in the canons of both headliners. It reveals an entirely new realm of accomplishment for Coltrane and Dolphy, and helps to redefine the very importance of hitherto unreleased recordings. Falsenthal, Daniel (August 1, 2023). "John Coltrane: Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy". Albums. Pitchfork Media . Retrieved August 2, 2023.

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To be fair, it is easy to imagine that someone who had last heard Coltrane play "When Lights Are Low" as a member of Miles Davis' quintet (as on Davis' 1956 Prestige album Cookin') might have needed smelling salts on hearing his performance with Dolphy at the Gate. It is worth remembering, too, that Coltrane's Africa/Brass (1961), which featured Dolphy, had yet to be released when the Gate recordings were made. This meant that "Greensleeves" and, more to the point, the turbulent "Africa," were likely to be new to many people in the audience, as would be Dolphy himself to some of them. And some audience members may well have been at the club on the strength of Coltrane's current radio hit "My Favorite Things." But the vibe in the room is palpably onside. If the gatekeepers did not get it, it sounds like the paying customers did. For Druker, one of the thrills of the music itself is the presence of Eric Dolphy. "As good as everything else is, Dolphy is virtually given an entire feature on 'When Lights Are Low,'" he says. "I can't think of another situation where someone joining Coltrane's band was given that much space. Coltrane solos towards the end, he takes a few choruses, but it's really a feature for Dolphy. That was unique. It spoke to the love Coltrane had of Dolphy's music and to their relationship. That was the first thing that jumped out at me. Then, when you listen to all of it, the rest of the performances are just astounding.

Berlyant, Matthew (October 12, 2023). "John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy: Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse!)". Music. Under the Radar. ISSN 1553-2305 . Retrieved October 12, 2023. del Barco, Mandalit (November 10, 2023). "2024 Grammy award nominations led by SZA, Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers". In the News. Oregon Public Broadcasting . Retrieved November 11, 2023. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy was commercially successful, debuting at No.8 on Top Album Sales, No.1 on Jazz Albums, No.1 on Traditional Jazz Albums, No.4 on Tastemaker Albums, No.7 on Top Current Album Sales, No.10 on Vinyl Albums, and No.156 on Billboard200 charts. [16] Chart performance for Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy Chart The recordings, uncovered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, were made by engineer Rich Alderson as part of a test of the Village Gate’s then-new sound system. The tapes seemed to have been lost, were found, but then disappeared again into Library’s vast sound archives.

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In a piece on jazz drumming for Paste, Geoffrey Himes called this the "most exciting jazz reissue of the year" and called special attention to Elvin Jones. [14]