Post by Doom Girl on Jul 28, 2023 19:54:36 GMT
For me, EVENINGS AT THE VILLAGE GATE has some enormous pluses, but also, alas, some big minuses. Overall, I think it is a set that the musicians would not have chosen to have released - but, nonetheless, I’m always glad to hear unreleased material by these players.
The best part is the interaction of Coltrane and Jones - two masters in their prime. “My Favorite Things” was my favorite thing on the album. Coltrane’s soloing brought tears to my eyes - the preternatural connection between sax and drums was almost beyond belief and I was glad to have yet another version of this Coltrane favorite. Next best in this regard was “Impressions.”
The bad sound greatly dampened my enthusiasm, especially with respect to bass and piano, although Tyner’s fine, though “conventional,” solos came across pretty well. The single mike hanging from the ceiling-idea sucked - one or the other horns was adequately picked up, the other sounding as if in a box.
The greatest disservice of the album was to Dolphy - for two reasons, the lousy sound system and, sad to say, this band is simply not a good fit for Dolphy. Hear him straining to be heard on “When Lights Are Low” - what an ugly sound - and contrast his performance of the same tune just a week or two later on the wonderful two-record set ERIC DOLPHY: THE BERLIN CONCERTS (highly recommended). Here, accompanied only by Jamil Nasser on bass and Buster Smith on drums, we can hear the beautiful tone Dolphy actually had on the bass clarinet - one of the reasons Coltrane loved to listen to him - and the wonderful subtlety and humor of his playing. These aspects of his playing are virtually obliterated when faced with a sub-par sound system and the the tumult created by Jones. For me, it seemed that Jones and Dolphy were often not on the same page. Whereas, Jones could respond almost instantaneously to Coltrane (and vice versa) - when to build to a climax, when to dampen the energy - it seemed to me that over and again there were missed cues of this sort between Jones and Dolphy. I am coming around to “dottorjazz’s” astute opinions. As he says above : “I've never been overexcited by the partnership between Trane and Dolphy…” and further “Eric's flute playing on My Favorite Things…it looks unable to penetrate Trane's feelings…”.
(An aside: Dolphy’s flute playing on “My Favorite Things” definitely incorporated his interest in bird song - something he empahasized in that joint interview he gave with Coltrane in Down Beat. And it was interesting to hear how Coltrane acknowledged it in the start of his own solo - although he soon gave up on such playfulness to get down to the real business at hand with Jones.)
I also didn’t especially like the packaging of the album. The matte finish and sickly orange color on cheap cardboard were light years behind the original IMPULSE! presentations. I had to demand a new copy of the album when the first copy came with a damaged pock-marked cover and crushed gatefold spine - and then the second copy skipped on the last track so badly it shut my system down!
The most basic information about the music was missing or hard to find. Liner notes should tell who’s playing what, where. Were the two basses only on “Africa” or not? With decent sound, I guess I could tell for myself. (Headphones help). Apparently, Dolphy only played alto sax on one track, but that sure does sound like alto on the three note riff behind Coltrane on another track, but then here he is on bass clarinet. In fact, there were one or two spots where I thought I did detect a third horn present. Remember those last few seconds of A LOVE SUPREME…
And I didn’t really need to hear Lakecia Benjamin (“…this is a nice little snapshot…”) or Branford Marsalis ( “…Coltrane was like the Borg in Star Trek…”) commenting on Coltrane. Ugh.
All-in -all: an album definitely worth hearing for devotees of Coltrane, Jones, Dolphy et al., but probably not one I would recommend to new-comers to the music.
The best part is the interaction of Coltrane and Jones - two masters in their prime. “My Favorite Things” was my favorite thing on the album. Coltrane’s soloing brought tears to my eyes - the preternatural connection between sax and drums was almost beyond belief and I was glad to have yet another version of this Coltrane favorite. Next best in this regard was “Impressions.”
The bad sound greatly dampened my enthusiasm, especially with respect to bass and piano, although Tyner’s fine, though “conventional,” solos came across pretty well. The single mike hanging from the ceiling-idea sucked - one or the other horns was adequately picked up, the other sounding as if in a box.
The greatest disservice of the album was to Dolphy - for two reasons, the lousy sound system and, sad to say, this band is simply not a good fit for Dolphy. Hear him straining to be heard on “When Lights Are Low” - what an ugly sound - and contrast his performance of the same tune just a week or two later on the wonderful two-record set ERIC DOLPHY: THE BERLIN CONCERTS (highly recommended). Here, accompanied only by Jamil Nasser on bass and Buster Smith on drums, we can hear the beautiful tone Dolphy actually had on the bass clarinet - one of the reasons Coltrane loved to listen to him - and the wonderful subtlety and humor of his playing. These aspects of his playing are virtually obliterated when faced with a sub-par sound system and the the tumult created by Jones. For me, it seemed that Jones and Dolphy were often not on the same page. Whereas, Jones could respond almost instantaneously to Coltrane (and vice versa) - when to build to a climax, when to dampen the energy - it seemed to me that over and again there were missed cues of this sort between Jones and Dolphy. I am coming around to “dottorjazz’s” astute opinions. As he says above : “I've never been overexcited by the partnership between Trane and Dolphy…” and further “Eric's flute playing on My Favorite Things…it looks unable to penetrate Trane's feelings…”.
(An aside: Dolphy’s flute playing on “My Favorite Things” definitely incorporated his interest in bird song - something he empahasized in that joint interview he gave with Coltrane in Down Beat. And it was interesting to hear how Coltrane acknowledged it in the start of his own solo - although he soon gave up on such playfulness to get down to the real business at hand with Jones.)
I also didn’t especially like the packaging of the album. The matte finish and sickly orange color on cheap cardboard were light years behind the original IMPULSE! presentations. I had to demand a new copy of the album when the first copy came with a damaged pock-marked cover and crushed gatefold spine - and then the second copy skipped on the last track so badly it shut my system down!
The most basic information about the music was missing or hard to find. Liner notes should tell who’s playing what, where. Were the two basses only on “Africa” or not? With decent sound, I guess I could tell for myself. (Headphones help). Apparently, Dolphy only played alto sax on one track, but that sure does sound like alto on the three note riff behind Coltrane on another track, but then here he is on bass clarinet. In fact, there were one or two spots where I thought I did detect a third horn present. Remember those last few seconds of A LOVE SUPREME…
And I didn’t really need to hear Lakecia Benjamin (“…this is a nice little snapshot…”) or Branford Marsalis ( “…Coltrane was like the Borg in Star Trek…”) commenting on Coltrane. Ugh.
All-in -all: an album definitely worth hearing for devotees of Coltrane, Jones, Dolphy et al., but probably not one I would recommend to new-comers to the music.