Another Sunday Interlude: A Trane Trio

Photo by Don Hunstein

   

Heading into the new year, "Spritual" is as fine a composition, at once detailed and melodic, complex and basic, as one can imagine, rendered live by one of the best improvisatory ensembles as there ever was.  This was the first album with the classic John Coltrane Quartet: Elvin Jones, Paul Chambers, and McCoy Tyner.  For this selection the incomparable Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet makes this piece levitate.

And below is "an outake" from the original album, with Coltrane and Dolphy ascending to amazing heights of musical transcendence:

   

The mind is, of course, the most complex instrument of all, certainly proven by these stellar tunes. For those who prefer their transcendence a tad more melodic, here are two of my favorite recordings from Coltrane's Atlantic years, "Equinox" and "Central Park West":

Finally, to get the new year started with a little look back, a recent poem of mine featured on tinywords:

Slime trail—
glancing back at
the glinting

little snail
facing this way
where to now?

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,

Don

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