Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy

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Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
John Coltrane - Evenings at the Village Gate- John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy.jpg
Live album by
John Coltrane
ReleasedJuly 14, 2023 (2023-07-14)
RecordedAugust 1961
Venue Village Gate, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Genre Avant-garde jazz [1] [2] [3]
Length79:51
LanguageEnglish
Label Impulse!
John Coltrane chronology
A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
(2021)		Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
(2023)

Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy is a live album recorded in 1961 featuring jazz musicians John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, released on Impulse! Records in 2023.

Contents

Recording and release

By 1961, Coltrane had begun experimenting with modes and genre, moving towards the avant-garde sound that would be featured on records like Africa/Brass . [2] This period of experimentation proved highly controversial and Coltrane and collaborator Eric Dolphy faced criticism that their music during this period was "anti-jazz". [4] The recordings on this album are from a brief residency in mid-1961 that the duo had at the Village Gate and were recorded for posterity's sake by engineer Richard Alderson. They were rediscovered decades later in a New York Public Library collection. [2]

Critical reception

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 91 out of 100 from four critic scores. [5]

In Financial Times , Mike Hobart gave this work 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "the set stands up well against Coltrane’s other live recordings of the time". [6] In Glide Magazine, Jim Hynes called this recording "seminal" and additionally praised the extensive liner notes. [1] Andrew Male of Mojo gave this release 4 out of 5 stars, praising several tracks, including the concluding recording of "Africa" as being like a "historic moment", and also notes the extensive liner notes from Ashley Kahn. [7] The New Yorker 's Richard Brody praised all of the performers and connected Coltrane's musical evolution here with the 1964 recording of A Love Supreme ; he sums up his review "the new release exemplifies, in its passionate strivings, the essence of jazz modernity and the spirit of the age". [8]

Editors at Pitchfork chose this as one of the Best New Reissues and critic Daniel Felsenthal scored it a 9.2 for being "a freeze-frame of jazz as it escapes the present and absconds to the future". [9] At Qobuz's music magazine, this was chosen as Album of the Week, with critic Fred Cisterna calling it a "masterpiece" and continues that "the instrumental balance on the unearthed tapes isn’t flawless, but that’s a quibble: the overall sound and room tone are good, and the music stuns". [10] Writing for Tidal, Brad Farberman called this period "an important stepping stone" toward Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Dolphy's Out to Lunch! [3] Chris Pearson of The Times rated this release 4 out of 5 stars, writing that Coltrane and Dolphy were at artistic heights, but criticizes Reggie Workman's solo in "Africa". [11] In Under the Radar , Matthew Berlyant scored this album 8 out of 10, characterizing the release as "an absolute delight for those who want to hear these two colossuses of the saxophone". [12]

Editors at Stereogum run a monthly article on the state of jazz and the July 2023 edition included a retrospective on Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and the intersection of African music with jazz forms. The article ends with a discussion of Coltrane's "Africa" and critic Phil Freeman calls this recording of the composition "an incredible mood piece". [13]

In a piece on jazz drumming for Paste , Geoffrey Himes called this the "most exciting jazz reissue of the year" and called special attention to Elvin Jones; [14] Himes also called this one of the most overlooked albums of 2023. [15] Editors at online retailer Qobuz included this on their list of the best jazz albums of 2023. [16] Graham Reid of The New Zealand Herald included this in his favorite albums of 2023. [17] David Weininger of The Boston Globe listed this among the nine best album reissues of 2023. [18] Editors at Mojo chose this for the second best reissue of 2023. [19]

Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy was nominated for Best Album Notes at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. [20]

Track listing

  1. "My Favorite Things" (Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers) – 15:45
  2. "When Lights Are Low" (Benny Carter) – 15:10
  3. "Impressions" (Coltrane) – 10:00
  4. "Greensleeves" (traditional) – 16:15
  5. "Africa" (Coltrane) – 22:41

Personnel

Technical personnel

Charts

Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy was commercially successful, debuting at No. 8 on Top Album Sales, No. 1 on Jazz Albums, No. 1 on Traditional Jazz Albums, No. 4 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 7 on Top Current Album Sales, No. 10 on Vinyl Albums, and No. 156 on Billboard 200 charts. [21]

Chart performance for Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
ChartPeak
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [22] 13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [23] 45
US Billboard 200 [24] 156
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) [25] 1

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Hynes, Jim (July 14, 2023). "Seminal Never-Before-Heard 1961 Recordings Released On 'Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy'". Glide Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Chinen, Nate (May 31, 2023). "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy's fearless experiment sets a new album ablaze". Music News. Consider This . NPR . Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Farberman, Brad (July 14, 2023). "Curator's Pick: John Coltrane/Eric Dolphy". Tidal . Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  4. ↑ DeMichael, Don (April 12, 1962). "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy Answer the Jazz Critics". DownBeat . ISSN   0012-5768 . Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy by John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy Reviews and Tracks – Metacritic". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. n.d. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  6. ↑ Hobart, Mike (July 7, 2023). "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy thrill in Evenings at the Village Gate — album review". Financial Times . ISSN   0307-1766 . Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  7. ↑ Male, Andrew (July 27, 2023). "John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy Evenings At The Village Gate Reviewed: Newly rediscovered sessions show a genius in transition". Mojo . ISSN   1351-0193 . Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ Brody, Richard (July 18, 2023). "A Newly Discovered Realm of Accomplishment for John Coltrane". Culture Desk. The New Yorker . ISSN   0028-792X. OCLC   320541675 . Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  9. ↑ Falsenthal, Daniel (August 1, 2023). "John Coltrane: Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy". Albums. Pitchfork Media . Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  10. ↑ Cisterna, Fred (July 23, 2023). "Album of the Week: Coltrane and Dolphy". News. Qobuz . Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Pearson, Chris (July 5, 2023). "John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy review—'lost' recording shows jazz greats at their most compelling". Album Review. The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  12. ↑ Berlyant, Matthew (October 12, 2023). "John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy: Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse!)". Music. Under the Radar . ISSN   1553-2305 . Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  13. ↑ Freeman, Phil (July 24, 2023). "Chief Adjuah Puts Down The Horn". Ugly Beauty: The Month in Jazz. Stereogum . Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  14. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (November 7, 2023). "Give the Jazz Drummers Their Due". Music > Features > Jazz. Paste . ISSN   1540-3106 . Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  15. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (January 22, 2024). "The Curmudgeon: Overlooked Albums of 2023". Music > Features > The Curmudgeon. Paste . ISSN   1540-3106 . Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  16. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2023". Qobuz Magazine. Qobuz. December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  17. ↑ Reid, Graham (December 17, 2023). "Bigger than the Beatles: Graham Reid's best albums of 2023". The Listener / Entertainment. New Zealand Herald . ISSN   1170-0777 . Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  18. ↑ Weininger, David; Hirsh, Marc; Munro, Stuart (December 21, 2023). "The Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Stax soul, and more: 9 great album reissues of 2023". The Boston Globe . ISSN   0743-1791. OCLC   66652431 . Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  19. ↑ Mulvey, John (December 22, 2023). "The Best Reissues Of 2023". The Mojo List. Mojo . ISSN   1351-0193 . Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  20. ↑ del Barco, Mandalit (November 10, 2023). "2024 Grammy award nominations led by SZA, Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers". In the News. Oregon Public Broadcasting . Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (July 27, 2023). "Lost John Coltrane Live Album Debuts in Top 10 Across Multiple Billboard Charts". Billboard . ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy – Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy – Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  24. ↑ "John Coltrane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  25. ↑ "John Coltrane Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
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