Touchin' on Trane

Last updated
Touchin' on Trane
Touchin' on Trane.jpg
Live album by
Released1993
RecordedOctober 31 and November 1, 1991
VenueHaus der Jungen Talente in Berlin, Germany
Genre Free jazz
Length66:46
Label FMP
Producer Jost Gebers
Charles Gayle chronology
Spirits Before
(1988)
Touchin' on Trane
(1993)
Repent
(1992)
By Any Means chronology
Touchin' on Trane
(1993)
Live at Crescendo
(2008)

Touchin' on Trane is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Charles Gayle, bassist William Parker, and percussionist Rashied Ali, featuring performances inspired by John Coltrane which were recorded in Germany in 1991 for the FMP label. [1]

Contents

When on tour, the trio was billed under the name By Any Means; however, the album was released using the musicians' individual names for contractual reasons. [2] The group would not release another recording until Live at Crescendo , issued by Ayler Records in 2008. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg👑 [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [7]

The AllMusic review by Brian Flota awarded the album five stars out of five, stating "This is Charles Gayle's most accessible work. Gayle's mastery of free jazz is blended with a more traditional compositional style of jazz on this disc... Gayle, bassist William Parker, and Ali don't copy Coltrane, but rather expand on his accomplishments. Without covering any songs, Touchin' on Trane is the greatest John Coltrane tribute album". [4]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called the album an "outright masterpiece" that "seems likely to be a central document in the free music of the decade," and identified it as part of their suggested "Core Collection" of essential jazz albums, awarding it a "Crown", signifying a recording that the authors "feel a special admiration or affection for". [5] [8]

Francis Lo Kee of All About Jazz called the album "one of the strongest of the '90s," and noted that Gayle "plays with the conviction and strength of a Coltrane or Rollins in their twenties and thirties." [7]

Writing for Burning Ambulance, Phil Freeman commented: "What separates Touchin' On Trane from the pack is the mastery of the three players involved, and their ability to be taken out of themselves by the opportunity to work with the others... each man plays at the highest possible level, driving the others forward even as he reaches deep within himself to bring out something ineffable and awesome." [9]

The authors of Jazz: The Rough Guide described the album as "Gayle at his best," and wrote: "the feel is more relaxed, less constantly aggressive than Gayle can be. He has too often recorded with musicians of far lower calibre than he, but Gayle is in good company with this rhythm team." [10]

Author Ajay Heble remarked: "This is, to my mind, communal music making of the highest possible order... [Gayle's] widely varying timbres and non-tempered sounds... are a perfect match for... the formidable textural inventiveness and extended techniques" of Parker and "the liberating rhythmic drive" of Ali. [11]

Track listing

All compositions by Charles Gayle. William Parker & Rashied Ali

  1. "Part A" – 14:41
  2. "Part B" – 7:05
  3. "Part C" – 12:28
  4. "Part D" – 27:42
  5. "Part E" – 4:48

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Parker (musician)</span> American jazz musician

William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashied Ali</span> American free jazz and avant-garde drummer

Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer who was best known for performing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Gayle</span> American free jazz musician (1939–2023)

Charles Gayle was an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performed as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassist, and percussionist.

<i>A Monastic Trio</i> 1968 studio album by Alice Coltrane

A Monastic Trio is the first solo album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded in 1968 at the John Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on piano and harp, and is joined by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Rashied Ali, all of whom were members of John Coltrane's last quintet. Drummer Ben Riley also appears on one track. The album was reissued on CD in 1998 with three additional tracks, one of which is a piano solo recorded in 1967.

<i>Stellar Regions</i> 1995 studio album by John Coltrane

Stellar Regions is a posthumous release by John Coltrane, drawn largely from tapes discovered in 1994 by the artist's wife, Alice Coltrane, who plays the piano on the session. Alice Coltrane is also responsible for the titles of the eight numbers featured on the album.

<i>Interstellar Space</i> 1974 studio album by John Coltrane

Interstellar Space is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, featuring drummer Rashied Ali. It was recorded in 1967, the year of his death, and released by Impulse! Records in September 1974.

<i>Live in Japan</i> (John Coltrane album) 1973 live album by John Coltrane

Live in Japan is a live album by American saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded for radio broadcast during his only Japanese tour in July 1966 at two Tokyo venues, Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall and Sankei Hall. The recordings feature his last group, a quintet featuring Coltrane, his wife/pianist Alice, saxophonist/bass clarinetist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Rashied Ali.

<i>Meditations</i> (John Coltrane album) 1966 studio album by John Coltrane

Meditations is a 1966 album by John Coltrane. The album was considered the "spiritual follow-up to A Love Supreme." It features Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders as soloists, both playing tenor saxophones. This was the last Coltrane recording to feature his classic quartet lineup of himself, bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner, as both Jones and Tyner would quit the band by early 1966. Sanders, Ali, Garrison and Coltrane's wife Alice would comprise his next group.

<i>The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording</i> 2001 live album by John Coltrane

The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording is the Impulse! Records-released final live recording of saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded April 23, 1967, at the Olatunji Center of African Culture in New York and released on Compact Disc in 2001. The album consists of two songs—"Ogunde", which Coltrane also recorded for his final approved album, Expression, and an especially free-form "My Favorite Things", which Coltrane had performed live regularly since 1960. The recording was made for broadcast on Billy Taylor's local radio station, WLIB. The Olatunji Concert was not Coltrane's last show, but rather, his penultimate—he would play once more on May 7, 1967, in Baltimore.

Muhammad Ali is an American free jazz drummer.

<i>Expression</i> (album) 1967 studio album by John Coltrane

Expression is an album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded in early 1967 and released in late September of that year, around Coltrane's birthday, and two months after his death. This was the first posthumous release of a Coltrane recording, and the last album he personally authorized.

<i>Universal Consciousness</i> 1971 studio album by Alice Coltrane

Universal Consciousness is the fifth solo album by Alice Coltrane. It was recorded from April to June, 1971, in New York City and at the Coltrane home studios in Dix Hills, New York, and was released later that year by Impulse! Records. On the album, Coltrane appears on harp and organ, and is joined by bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummers Jack DeJohnette, Rashied Ali, and Clifford Jarvis, and, on three tracks, a quartet of violins playing parts arranged by Ornette Coleman. It was the first in a series of three albums on which Coltrane appeared with an ensemble of strings.

<i>Offering: Live at Temple University</i> 2014 live album by John Coltrane

Offering: Live at Temple University is a live album by John Coltrane recorded in 1966 and released posthumously by Resonance Records on September 23, 2014, Coltrane's 88th birthday. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes and was well-received by critics. Proceeds from the album benefit the John Coltrane Home.

<i>Songlines</i> (Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins, and Rashied Ali album) 1994 studio album by Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins, and Rashied Ali

Songlines is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Rashied Ali. It was recorded on October 30 and 31, 1991, in Berlin, and was released in 1994 by FMP.

<i>Live at Tonic</i> (Rashied Ali, Louis Belogenis, and Wilber Morris album) 2001 live album by Rashied Ali, Louis Belogenis, and Wilber Morris

Live at Tonic is a live album by drummer Rashied Ali, saxophonist Louis Belogenis, and bassist Wilber Morris. It was recorded on January 6, 2001, at Tonic in New York City, and was released later that year by DIW Records.

<i>The Dynamic Duo Remember Trane and Bird</i> 2004 live album by Rashied Ali and Arthur Rhames

The Dynamic Duo Remember Trane and Bird is a double-CD live album by drummer Rashied Ali and multi-instrumentalist Arthur Rhames. It was recorded on August 29, 1981, at the Willisau Jazz Festival in Willisau, Switzerland, and was released in 2004 by Ayler Records. Rhames, who is heard on tenor saxophone and piano, appeared on only a handful of albums during his career, and died in 1989 at the age of 32.

<i>Live at Crescendo</i> 2008 live album by By Any Means: Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, and William Parker

Live at Crescendo is a double-CD live album by the free jazz trio By Any Means, featuring drummer Rashied Ali, saxophonist Charles Gayle, and bassist William Parker. It was recorded on October 19, 2007, at Club Crescendo in Norrköping, Sweden, and was released in 2008 by Ayler Records.

<i>Moon Flight</i> 1976 studio album by Rashied Ali Quartet / Quintet

Moon Flight is an album by drummer Rashied Ali on which he is featured in quartet and quintet settings. It was recorded on August 26, 1975, at Studio 77 in New York City, and was released on vinyl in 1976 by Ali's Survival Records. In 1999, it was reissued on CD by Survival in conjunction with the Knit Classics label. On the album, Ali is joined by saxophonists Marvin Blackman and James Vass, pianist Charles Eubanks, and bassist Benny Wilson.

<i>Rings of Saturn</i> (Rashied Ali and Louie Belogenis album) 1999 studio album by Rashied Ali and Louie Belogenis

Rings of Saturn is an album of duets by drummer Rashied Ali and saxophonist Louie Belogenis. It was recorded during August 1997 at Survival Studios in New York City, and was released in 1999 by Knitting Factory Records. Along with six original works, the recording includes two compositions by John Coltrane, including "Saturn," which originally appeared on Interstellar Space, an album of Coltrane/Ali duets recorded in 1967.

<i>No One in Particular</i> 2001 studio album by Rashied Ali Quintet

No One in Particular is an album by the Rashied Ali Quintet, led by drummer Ali, and featuring saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, guitarist Gene Ess, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Matthew Garrison. It was recorded on June 25, 1992, at The Studio, located at 102 Greene Street, New York City, and was released in 2001 by Ali's Survival Records.

References

  1. FMP Records discography Archived 2014-03-04 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 26, 2014
  2. Greenlee, Steve (August 7, 2009). "The free-jazz group By Any Means brings its chemistry and history to the Newport festival". Boston.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  3. "By Any Means: Live at Crescendo". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Flota, B. Allmusic Review accessed February 26, 2014
  5. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Bria (2008) [1992]. "Charles Gayle". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 538. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 424.
  7. 1 2 Kee, Francis Lo (December 16, 2008). "Charles Gayle: Touchin' On Trane". All About Jazz. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  8. Penguin Guide to Jazz: Crown Albums List, accessed February 26, 2014
  9. Freeman, Phil (August 31, 2011). "Touchin' On Trane: 20 Years Later". Burning Ambulance. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  10. Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian; Parker, Chris (1995). Jazz: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 230.
  11. Heble, Ajay (2013). Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice. Taylor & Francis. p. 224 via Google Books.