John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy thrill in Evenings at the Village Gate — album review

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John Coltrane’s transition from Miles Davis sideman to expressionist iconoclast is well documented. A multitude of live recordings trace the saxophonist’s search for new trains of thought and studio albums reveal ideas taking shape. Alongside Giant Steps and A Love Supreme, Coltrane’s Village Vanguard sessions recorded in November 1961 stand out.

This release, featuring multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, dates from earlier that year, and is from the Village Gate, another intimate New York jazz club. Presumed lost, the recordings were recently rediscovered in the archives of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Sound quality is reasonable, though the mix is a little drum-heavy, and the playing focused and relaxed.

The set stands up well against Coltrane’s other live recordings of the time. Dolphy is in effervescent mood and well featured on flute, bass clarinet and alto sax. His angular lines, an intriguing contrast to Coltrane’s intense improvisations on soprano sax, are captured in unusual depth. Dolphy’s flute rippling over McCoy Tyner’s trademark piano vamp freshens “My Favourite Things”. And it is his singular approach to bass clarinet that makes “When Lights are Low”, a Coltrane rarity, so distinctive.

Elsewhere, the leader’s “Impressions” is taken thrillingly at speed while “Greensleeves” meanders. But it is the only known live version of Coltrane’s “Africa” that most justifies the album’s release. The studio version, his first recording for the Impulse! label, was recorded with a large ensemble two months before the Village Gate gig. Here Coltrane captures that power with his muscular tenor sax while Dolphy riffs and whoops in support. Drummer Elvin Jones adds light-touch thrust and double-bassists Reggie Workman and Art Davis underpin a 22-minute epic of sustained invention. It’s a killer.

★★★★☆

‘Evenings at the Village Gate’ is released by Impulse!