Description
Label Review.
Recorded Wednesday 6th March 1963, this session was previously thought lost until the tape surfaced in Coltrane’s first wife (Naima) families possession. Official release. Also available on 2CD, vinyl, and double vinyl.
Our Overview.
Although this is being marketed as a “lost album”, it is in reality a lost session. This was Coltranes’ first visit to the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (where he recorded most of his studio work for Impulse!) since November 1962. This session was not intended for release as Coltrane took a reference tape and was probably a warm up for the session the next day with vocalist Johnny Hartman with whom Coltrane and his quartet recorded a whole album which was released that summer.
It was a good job Coltrane took a copy as the master tape is one of a handful which have been “lost” in the archives. His tape was left with his first wife Naima and when she died years later, the tape wound up in the possession of her family. When they discovered it recently they attempted to sell it but legally, it belonged to Impulse. A deal was struck which has allowed the tape to be returned and readied for release.
According to scholars who have heard these tapes prior to release say that these recordings offer a glimpse into the sound the band were creating on stage at the time but Coltrane obviously felt that this particular session wasn’t going to be his next album proper. This would be ‘Impressions’ released the same month as the Hartman album, which contained four tracks from three sessions recorded over an eighteen month period.
Whilst we enjoy this new discovery there are still others to re-surface, most importantly his final session from 17th May 1967. We live in hope!