"Alabama" is a musical composition by the American jazz artist John Coltrane, first recorded in 1963 by Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. Two takes from that session appear on Coltrane's 1964 album Live at Birdland . It is widely believed [lower-alpha 1] that Coltrane conceived of and performed the composition in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963—an attack by the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four African-American girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11). [1] [2] [3]
Jazz historian Bill Cole, in his 1977 book, John Coltrane, states that Coltrane composed "Alabama" as a memorial to the four victims. The date of the first recording – November 18, 1963 – was sixty-four days after the bombing and four days before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cole asserts that the melodic line "was developed from the rhythmic inflections of a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King." [3] [4] [lower-alpha 2]
Coltrane, Tyner, Garrison, and Jones, again, recorded "Alabama" – along with "Afro Blue" and "Impressions" – for a 30-minute TV episode of Jazz Casual, hosted by Ralph J. Gleason. The group recorded it December 7, 1963, at KQED TV in San Francisco. The episode was broadcast February 19, 1964, on WNET TV in New York, and February 23, 1964, on KQED TV in San Francisco. [5] The quartet had been performing a twelve-day gig at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, nightly, from November 26, 1963, through December 8, 1963.
"Alabama" was one of the tracks on Jack DeJohnette's 2016 album, In Movement (recorded October 2015 at Avatar Studios in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan). The other two musicians on the album, Ravi Coltrane (saxophone) and Matthew Garrison (bass), are the sons of the musicians on the original 1963 recording. In Movement was released June 5, 2016, in two formats – as a CD and as 2 LPs (ECM 2488). Music journalist Richard Williams pointed out that the personal connection to "Alabama" extended to DeJohnette, who not only had performed with John Coltrane, but had known Ravi and Matt since they were children. In addition, Jack is Matt's godfather and when Matt returned to the United States after living with his mother in Italy for 11 years he moved in with Jack. The trio – Jack, Ravi and Matt – performed "Alabama" on the fifth day of the Berlin Jazz Festival, November 5, 2016 and again at a free concert in Central Park on June 16, 2019 which lasted 5:17 minutes and can be seen below.
Recording date | Artists | Takes | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 18, 1963 (afternoon) (released January 1964) | "Alabama" –––––––––––––––––––– | ||||
Selected session releases of the 1963 recording
| |||||
October 2015 (released June 5, 2016) | "Alabama" –––––––––––––––––––– ECM 2488 | Recorded at Avatar Studios in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan. Released on Jack DeJohnette's album, In Movement. |
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Alfred McCoy Tyner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy award winner. Unlike many of the jazz keyboardists of his generation, Tyner very rarely incorporated electric keyboards or synthesizers into his work. Tyner has been widely imitated, and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time.
James Emory Garrison was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.
Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
Arthur David Davis was a double-bassist, known for his work with Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner and Max Roach.
Impressions is an album of live and studio recordings by the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released through Impulse! Records in July 1963.
Crescent is a studio album by the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released in July 1964 through the label Impulse!. Alongside Coltrane on tenor saxophone, the album features McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones (drums) playing original Coltrane compositions.
"Satin Doll" is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, 101 Strings, Terry Callier, and Nancy Wilson. Its chord progression is well known for its unusual use of chords and opening with a ii-V-I turnaround.
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is a studio album by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman which was released by Impulse! Records in July or August 1963. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Live at Birdland is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. It was released on January 9, 1964 through Impulse! Records. Three of its tracks were recorded live at the Birdland club and two are studio recordings. Among them is "Alabama", a tribute to four black children killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, a white supremacist terrorist attack in Birmingham, Alabama.
First Meditations (for quartet) is an album by John Coltrane recorded on September 2, 1965, and posthumously released in 1977. It is a quartet version of a suite Coltrane would record as Meditations two months later with an expanded group. Along with Sun Ship, recorded a week earlier, First Meditations represents the final recordings of Coltrane's classic quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.
The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Recordings is a 1998 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane with recordings from his classic quartet, including pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.
Live in Stockholm 1963 is a 1963 album by jazz musician John Coltrane.
Creation is a 1965 album by jazz musician John Coltrane. The 1965 tracks - "Impressions" and "Creation" - were recorded at the Half Note Cafe, New York. "Alabama" was recorded in San Francisco a year before. "Creation" may be incorrectly titled - the title was drawn from a bootleg album. This is the only known recording of the tune. An abbreviated version of the same performance has appeared on several compilation albums.
Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up is a 2005 double CD compilation of two previously unreleased 1965 Friday radio broadcasts – March 26 and May 7 – at the Half Note Club in New York City, featuring John Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones.
To the Beat of a Different Drum is a double album by jazz musician John Coltrane released posthumously in 1978. It is a compilation of recordings in which Roy Haynes replaced Coltrane's regular drummer Elvin Jones.
Steve Davis was an American jazz bassist who is best known for his time in the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1961.
In Movement is a studio album by American jazz drummer and composer Jack DeJohnette with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and bassist Matthew Garrison recorded in 2015 and released on the ECM label.
Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album is a studio album recorded by saxophonist John Coltrane for Impulse! Records that was first released in 2018. The recordings were made in 1963 during Coltrane's Classic Quartet period and lost for decades.
Dear Old Stockholm is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane released by GRP and Impulse! in 1993. The music, which was recorded on April 29, 1963 and May 26, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, features Coltrane's quartet with Roy Haynes substituting for Elvin Jones on drums.
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