Four for Trane

Last updated
Four for Trane
Shepp4forTrane.JPG
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 1965 [1]
RecordedAugust 10, 1964
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Genre Avant-garde jazz
Length36:38
Label Impulse!
Producer John Coltrane
Bob Thiele
Archie Shepp chronology
Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5
(1964)
Four for Trane
(1965)
Fire Music
(1965)

Four for Trane is a studio album by tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp released on Impulse! Records in 1965. Four of the five tracks were composed and originally recorded by John Coltrane (released on his albums Giant Steps and Coltrane Plays the Blues ) and rearranged by Shepp and trombonist Roswell Rudd. The other featured players are trumpeter Alan Shorter (brother of Wayne, here playing flugelhorn), alto saxophonist John Tchicai (Shepp’s fellow member of the New York Contemporary Five), bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Charles Moffett (who had worked extensively with Ornette Coleman). Coltrane himself co-produced the album alongside Bob Thiele. The album was Shepp's first release for Impulse!

Contents

Background

According to Coltrane biographer Ashley Kahn, Four for Trane "was a direct result of Coltrane’s intervention, and his faith in the young tenor saxophonist from Philadelphia." [2] Shepp recalled his efforts to get a recording date with Impulse!: "I had spent months trying to get Bob [Thiele] on the phone and he never answered the phone. Every time I'd call, his secretary, Lillian, whom I got to know very well, but at that point I hated her because she said, 'Well he's gone out to lunch,' or 'He's gone home and he's not coming back.' I was living in a fifth-floor walk-up and I'd save a dollar a day just to make ten calls. I'd run down and put a dime in the phone in the drugstore. This went on for months... So this one night I sat in with Trane at the Half Note. I got up enough courage to ask if he would intercede. So John gave me a look — the first time he really sort of looked at me in a very critical way, very questioning. He said, 'You know, a lot of people think I'm easy.' Then he took a very hard look at me. I said, 'Well, John, you can be sure I'm not trying to take advantage. I need this.' He knew I loved him. It wasn't about just trying to get off easy. So he looked at me and he says, 'Well, I'll see what I can do...' The next day I called Thiele's office and lo and behold the secretary says, 'Well, he's not in now but he will be back at three o'clock and he's waiting for your call.' So when I did talk to him, the first thing he said is, 'You guys are avant-garde. I know you're into your own thing. If you do this recording you're going to have to record all of John's music.' I had just been waiting for the chance to do that. I loved Trane's music and I had my own ideas about how to work with it. That became the Four for Trane date..." [3]

Regarding the recording session, Shepp said: "When we did the Four for Trane date, it went down almost take by take, because we had rehearsed nightly for months. After the third song, Bob, who had been really terribly rude at the beginning, smoking his pipe like a chimney, he brightened up a bit, sat down and said, 'I've got to call John and tell him this stuff is great.' He said, 'John, you got to come out and hear this!' Well, Coltrane already knew. He had been listening to this stuff for the last couple of years because the avant-garde was all around New York... John was very gracious. He drove out from his home in Long Island to Englewood, at about eleven o'clock at night. I assumed he got out of his bed, because when we took that photo they put on the album cover [he was] with no socks, you know." [4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [7]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested "Core Collection" calling it "one of the classic jazz albums of the '60s and a fascinating glimpse into how thoroughly different what was already thought of as the Coltrane revolution might sound." [6] The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek states that "When it came to sheer exuberance and expression, [Shepp] was a force to be reckoned with in his youth, and it shows in each of the tunes recorded here. Four for Trane is a truly fine, original, and lasting album from an under-celebrated musician". [8] Tom Terrell wrote: "Shepp and his crew of iconoclasts... took four of the master's best known tunes and made 'em new again." [9] Robert Spencer wrote that Shepp's arrangements "succeed beautifully, not in restating Coltrane's work on these pieces, but making them something new... While Coltrane’s songs were widely thought of as empty platforms for blowing, Shepp shows here that they have the depth to stand a different treatment." [10] Leroi Jones stated that "[t]his group that Shepp has gotten together for this date cannot fail to delight and inspire anyone really interested in moving human expression." [11] He wrote: "the fact that this album is called Four for Trane demonstrates how much of an emotional allegiance Shepp feels he owes John Coltrane. But even with such acknowledged 'allegiance,' don't think for a moment that you're going to hear J.C. played back at you intact. Archie is so much his own self that it is finally impossible to name one influence as having been the guiding one... his range of expression is so broad that he seems to take in or to have digested most of the ways of playing tenor saxophone." [11]

Track listing

All compositions by John Coltrane, except where noted.

  1. "Syeeda's Song Flute" – 8:30
  2. "Mr. Syms" – 7:41
  3. "Cousin Mary" – 7:14
  4. "Naima" – 7:09
  5. "Rufus (Swung His Face At Last To The Wind, Then His Neck Snapped)" (Shepp) – 6:24

Personnel

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 and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.

Archie Shepp American jazz musician

Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.

Jimmy Garrison American jazz double bassist (1934-1976)

James Emory Garrison was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impulse! Records</span> American record label

Impulse! Records is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positive critiques of his recordings, the label came to be known as "the house that Trane built".

<i>A Love Supreme</i> 1965 studio album by John Coltrane

A Love Supreme is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tchicai</span> Danish jazz saxophonist and composer

John Martin Tchicai was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer.

Robert "Bob" Thiele was an American record producer who worked on numerous classic jazz albums and record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roswell Rudd</span> American jazz trombonist and composer

Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. was an American jazz trombonist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Brown</span> American saxophonist

Marion Brown was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai. He performed on Coltrane's landmark 1965 album Ascension. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow described him as "one of the brightest and most lyrical voices of the 1960s avant-garde."

Johnny Hartman American jazz singer (1923–1983)

John Maurice Hartman was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his collaboration in 1963 with saxophonist John Coltrane, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, a landmark album for both him and Coltrane.

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

Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane recorded in June 1965 and released in 1966. It is considered a watershed in Coltrane's work, with the albums recorded before it being more conventional in structure and the albums recorded after it being looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. AllMusic called it "the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde".

<i>Karma</i> (Pharoah Sanders album) 1969 studio album by Pharoah Sanders

Karma is a jazz recording by the American tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, released in May 1969 on the Impulse! label, with catalog number AS 9181. A pioneering work of the spiritual jazz style, it has become Sanders' most popular and critically acclaimed album.

<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>Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard</i> 1962 live album by John Coltrane

Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in February 1962 on Impulse Records. It is the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, as well as the first Coltrane live album to be issued. In contrast to his previous album for Impulse!, this one generated much turmoil among both critics and audience alike with its challenging music.

<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>New Thing at Newport</i> 1966 live album by John Coltrane and Archie Shepp

New Thing at Newport is a 1965 live album featuring two separate sets from that year's Newport Jazz Festival by tenor saxophonists John Coltrane and Archie Shepp. It was recorded four days after the recording session for Coltrane's album Ascension, on which Shepp appeared, and is one of several albums documenting the end stages of Coltrane's "classic quartet," which would begin to break up by the end of that year with the departure of McCoy Tyner.

<i>Cosmic Music</i> 1968 studio album by John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane

Cosmic Music is a jazz album by John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane released after John Coltrane's death. John Coltrane only plays on two tracks, "Manifestation" and "Reverend King".

The New York Contemporary Five was an avant-garde jazz ensemble active from the summer of 1963 to the spring of 1964. It has been described as "a particularly noteworthy group during its year of existence -- a pioneering avant-garde combo" and "a group which, despite its... short lease on life, has considerable historical significance." Author Bill Shoemaker wrote that the NYCF was "one of the more consequential ensembles of the early 1960s." John Garratt described them as "a meteor that streaked by too fast."

<i>Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5</i> 1964 studio album by Bill Dixon/New York Contemporary Five

Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 is an album released on the Savoy label originally featuring one LP side by Bill Dixon's septet and one LP side by the New York Contemporary Five featuring saxophonist Archie Shepp. The album resulted from Dixon and Shepp's contractual obligations to provide Savoy Records with a second album after the Archie Shepp - Bill Dixon Quartet (1962) but following a professional separation.

<i>The New Wave in Jazz</i> 1965 live album by Various

The New Wave in Jazz is a live album recorded on March 28, 1965 at the Village Gate in New York City. It features groups led by major avant-garde jazz artists performing at a concert for the benefit of The Black Arts Repertory Theater/School founded by Amiri Baraka, then known as LeRoi Jones. The album was released on LP in 1965 on the Impulse! label, and was reissued on CD in 1994 with a different track listing.

References

  1. "Billboard". January 30, 1965.
  2. Kahn, Ashley (2006). The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. W. W. Norton. p. 117.
  3. Kahn, Ashley (2006). The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. W. W. Norton. pp. 120–121.
  4. Kahn, Ashley (2006). The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. W. W. Norton. p. 121.
  5. AllMusic review
  6. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1289. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  7. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 179. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  8. Jurek, T. AllMusic Review accessed April 6, 2009.
  9. Terrell, Tom (March 1, 1998). "Archie Shepp: Four For Trane". JazzTimes. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  10. Spencer, Robert (June 1, 1997). "Archie Shepp: Four For Trane". AllAboutJazz. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Jones, Leroi (2010). Black Music. Akashi Classics. p. 152.