Equinox (composition)

Last updated
"Equinox"
Composition by John Coltrane
from the album Coltrane's Sound
ReleasedJune 1964 (1964-06)
RecordedOctober 24 & 26, 1960
Studio Atlantic, New York City
Genre Jazz
Length8:33
Label Atlantic
Composer(s) John Coltrane
Producer(s) Nesuhi Ertegün

"Equinox" is a minor blues [1] jazz standard by American jazz saxophone player and composer John Coltrane. It was originally released on Coltrane's Sound [2] played in C# minor with a slow swing feel. However, it is usually played in the key of C Minor.

Contents

Name

Coltrane’s wife Naima named the song "Equinox". [3] The equinox occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun. John Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926, the day of the official autumn equinox of that year.

The release of "Equinox" was delayed until 1964 when Atlantic issued the album Coltrane’s Sound. Before he recorded it, Coltrane performed "Equinox" several times in live venues, including a session with Miles Davis’ rhythm section and at the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival. The other Atlantic recordings of "Equinox" were lost in the 1978 warehouse fire before they were released. [4] Unlike "Naima" and "My Favorite Things", "Equinox" would not become part of Coltrane's repertoire.

Coltrane's attitude in writing "Equinox" is described by Dr Lewis Porter as "Coltrane was a serious blues player and his blues pieces reflect the desire to get back to a primal mood, and away from the emotionally lighter, harmonically more complicated and complex blues of the boppers." [5]

Original recording

"Equinox" is introduced by McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones with a Latin rhythmic passage which shifts into the slower tempo of the theme. The composition evokes a sense of mystery. Coltrane then enters on the horn (a tenor), his playing slow and pensive. The theme is repeated for two choruses and then stating the theme twice. He then proceeds with an improvisation of unusual emotional depth - reminiscent of a preacher exhorting his congregation. [6] Elvin Jones make dramatic use of drum rolls and cymbal crashes throughout the song to maintain the sense of mystery. McCoy Tyner complements with a light feel.

Form and lead sheet

"Equinox" is a 12 bar minor blues with a fourteen bar introduction. The head is played twice before and after the solos. [7]

‖:C#m|F#m|:‖
‖:C#m|C#m|C#m|C#m:‖
‖:C#m7|C#m7|C#m7|C#m7|
|F#m7|F#m7|C#m7|C#m7|
|A7|G#7|C#m7|C#m7:|

Cover versions

"Equinox" has been covered by:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Coltrane</span> American jazz saxophonist (1926–1967)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCoy Tyner</span> American jazz pianist (1938–2020)

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.

<i>My Favorite Things</i> (John Coltrane album) 1961 studio album by John Coltrane

My Favorite Things is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in March 1961 on Atlantic Records. It was the first album to feature Coltrane playing soprano saxophone. An edited version of the title track became a hit single that gained popularity in 1961 on radio. The record became a major commercial success.

<i>Impressions</i> (John Coltrane album) 1963 studio album / live album by John Coltrane

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.

<i>Olé Coltrane</i> 1961 studio album by John Coltrane

Olé Coltrane is a studio album by the jazz musician and composer John Coltrane. It was released in November 1961 through Atlantic Records. The album was recorded at A&R Studios in New York, and was the last of Coltrane's Atlantic albums to be made under his own supervision.

<i>Coltrane Plays the Blues</i> 1962 studio album by John Coltrane

Coltrane Plays the Blues is an album of music by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in July 1962 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded at Atlantic Studios during the sessions for My Favorite Things, assembled after Coltrane had stopped recording for the label and was under contract to Impulse Records. Like Prestige Records before them, as Coltrane's fame grew during the 1960s, Atlantic used unissued recordings and released them without either Coltrane's input or approval.

<i>Sun Ship</i> 1971 studio album by John Coltrane

Sun Ship is a posthumously released jazz album by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane recorded on August 26, 1965. Along with First Meditations, recorded a week later, it was one of the last recording dates for Coltrane's "Classic Quartet" with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. The recording occurred shortly after a notable performance by the quartet, with Archie Shepp added as a second tenor player, at the DownBeat Jazz Festival at Soldier Field in Chicago, which was described by Ben Ratliff as "a famous breaking point — a Dylan-at-Newport, or a Rite of Spring," with music that he described as "jagged and vociferous... It aggravated a great part of the crowd, prompting, according to some witnesses, a large exodus."

<i>Live at the Village Vanguard Again!</i> 1966 live album by John Coltrane

Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a live jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May 1966 during a live performance at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City, the album features Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final years. The lineup features Coltrane's quintet, with Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums, supplemented by Emanuel Rahim on percussion. It was the quintet's only official recording released during Coltrane's lifetime.

<i>Africa/Brass</i> 1961 studio album by John Coltrane

Africa/Brass is a studio album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. It was released on September 1, 1961 through Impulse! Records. Coltrane's working quartet is augmented by a larger ensemble that brings the total to twenty-one musicians. Its big band sound, with the unusual instrumentation of French horns and euphonium, presented music very different from anything that had been associated with Coltrane to date. While critics originally gave it poor ratings, more recent jazz commentators have described it as "amazing" and as a "key work in understanding the path that John Coltrane's music took in its final phases." It is Coltrane's first release for Impulse!.

<i>Coltrane Jazz</i> 1961 studio album by John Coltrane

Coltrane Jazz is a studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in early 1961 on Atlantic Records. Most of the album features Coltrane playing with his former Miles Davis bandmates, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb during two sessions in November and December, 1959. The exception is the track "Village Blues", which was recorded October 21, 1960. "Village Blues" comes from the first recording session featuring Coltrane playing with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, who toured and recorded with Coltrane as part of his celebrated "classic quartet" from 1960 to 1965.

<i>The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings</i> 1995 box set by John Coltrane

The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings is a 1995 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane. It features all of the recordings Coltrane made for Atlantic Records, spanning January 15, 1959, to May 25, 1961.

<i>First Meditations (for quartet)</i> 1977 studio album by John Coltrane

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.

<i>The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings</i> 1997 live album by John Coltrane

The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is a box set of recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane, issued posthumously in 1997 by Impulse! Records, catalogue IMPD4-232. It collects all existing recordings from performances by the John Coltrane Quintet at the Village Vanguard in early November, 1961. Five selections had been issued during Coltrane's lifetime on the albums Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions. Additional tracks had been issued posthumously on the albums The Other Village Vanguard Tapes, Trane's Modes and From the Original Master Tapes.

<i>Live in Stockholm 1961</i> Live album by John Coltrane

Live in Stockholm 1961 is an album by featuring live performances by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded in November 1961 at the Koncerthusen, Stockholm.

<i>Live in Antibes</i> 1988 live album by John Coltrane

Live in Antibes is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane that was released in 1988 on the France's Concert label.

<i>Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things</i> 1969 studio album / Live album by John Coltrane

Selflessness Featuring My Favorite Things is a posthumous album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1969. The album juxtaposes two tracks recorded live at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival with a single track ("Selflessness") recorded in a studio in Los Angeles in 1965.

<i>Extensions</i> (McCoy Tyner album) 1973 studio album by McCoy Tyner

Extensions is the eleventh album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on February 9, 1970, but not released until January 1973. It has performances by Tyner with alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Elvin Jones, and features Alice Coltrane playing harp on three of the four tracks.

<i>The Best of John Coltrane</i> 1970 greatest hits album by John Coltrane

The Best of John Coltrane is a 1970 compilation album released by Atlantic Records collecting recordings made by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. The album was released shortly after his death as a part of the "Atlantic Jazz Anthology"—a series of greatest hits compilations for Atlantic jazz artists—and features performances from his brief period recording for Atlantic with new liner notes by jazz journalist Nat Hentoff.

<i>Dear Old Stockholm</i> (album) 1993 compilation album by John Coltrane

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.

<i>Live Trane: The European Tours</i> 2001 live album by John Coltrane

Live Trane: The European Tours is a 7–CD compilation album by American saxophonist John Coltrane containing music recorded live during 1961, 1962, and 1963 European tours, all of which took place under the auspices of Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic programs. The album, which was released in 2001 by Pablo Records, features Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones along with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassists Jimmy Garrison and Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones. In addition, Eric Dolphy is heard on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute on a number of tracks.

References

  1. Levine, Mark (2011-01-12). The Jazz Theory Book. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 225. ISBN   9781457101458 . Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  2. "Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Equinox)". Jazzstandards.com. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  3. Porter, Lewis liner notes, Heavyweight Champion, p. 184
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2012-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Porter, Lewis liner notes, Heavyweight Champion, p. 21
  6. "The 50th Anniversary of My Favorite Things – Part 3". Shawllobree.wordpress.com. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  7. Luebbert, David. "Equinox". Songtrellis.com. Retrieved 8 April 2012.