Friday, December 9, 2011

John Coltrane - Ascension

Ascension

John Coltrane's 1966 album Ascension is unlike any other. It is mostly avant-garde jazz. The album starts with an ensemble, then a musician has a solo which last a few minutes each, then an ensemble again, then another solo from another musician... . Edition I and II are about 40 minutes each. The album has to be listened to several times to fully hear all that is going on. John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson – trumpet, Marion Brown, John Tchicai - alto saxophone, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp - tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyner - piano, Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison - bass, and Elvin Jones - drums. I also like his Blue Train, A Love Supreme, and Interstellar Space albums.

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