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KIOS Jazz CD Of The Month: John Coltrane / Offering : Live At Temple University / Impulse!

John Coltrane leads a band on a 1966 live recording, Offering, which is perhaps the last great concert performance of the legendary saxophonist, Miles Davis sideman, composer, and bandleader.

Long awaited by fans of the saxophonist, John Coltrane's  Offering will be featured this month on the Last Call. The two CD set presents Coltrane and his 1966 band with special guests in an inspired free jazz performance.

Recorded at Temple University in his hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 11, 1966, six weeks after his fortieth birthday and nine months before his untimely death, Coltrane leads a band of Alice Coltrane, on piano; Pharaoh Sanders on reeds and flute; Rashied Ali on drums and Sonny Johnson on bass with special guests Steve Knoblauch and  Arnold Joyner  on alto saxophone and Umar Ali, Algie DeWitt, and Robert Kenyatta on percussion.

Listeners may be unaccustomed to the volcanic intensity of Coltrane in this live concert recording. This movement towards free jazz,  especially motivated by sacred concerns, was announced to the world on John Coltrane’s Meditations CD which opened with the profound religious statement of “The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost”.

Subsequently, the current volume begins  with "Naima”.  Coltrane begins to nudge the music into free form with preacher-like wails, aided by his wife Alice who presents a commanding solo at the piano.

"Crescent" follows with a direct shift into free jazz. Coltrane's saxophone statements begin the piece that takes a turn into atonality and volcanic boldness as voiced by Pharoah Sanders's dissonant saxophone screams. Alice Coltrane returns with a lengthy solo that is followed by a guest appearance by Arnold Joyner, a local musician who spontaneously decided to sit in with the band at that moment.

Pharoah Sanders takes a powerful solo on "Leo", with solo work from Coltrane bookending the piece and more thunderous intensity from the percussionists. Sanders work is inspired and one of the most energetic of his career, considering his well-deserved reputation as one of the foremost free jazz saxophonists. 

"Offering" finds Coltrane in a meditative mood, a brief pause from the firestorm of the evening's concert.

"My Favorite Things" begins with a strong bass statement from Sonny Johnson followed by Alice Coltrane's considerable piano talents again on display. John Coltrane follows, adding immense fire on his soprano saxophone before engaging in worldless chanting, given contrast by Sanders who is playing a piccolo. A moment of musical rapture. The piece ends with Coltrane returning to the soprano saxophone and the band concluding the piece to warm applause by the audience.

With the exception of "Offering", the pieces on this 2 CD release run over 15 minutes each, three of the numbers exceeding 20 minutes. They are probably not everyone's idea of what a jazz concert should be. But they are a document of the quest that many musicians have made, at one time or another: To invoke or transcend into the Divine Presence through music. As this concert was intended with that purpose in mind, “Offering” is a glimpse into the heart of jazz at its most adventuresome and profound.

Resonance Records, which is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation, will contribute a portion from every sale to the John Coltrane Home (www.thecoltranehome.org), an organization devoted to the preservation of Coltrane’s former home in Dix Hills, New York.

For more information, you may visit http://www.resonancerecords.org/

Chris Cooke has been a voice on public radio in Omaha since 1989. Working at KVNO-FM during college, Cooke hosted a weekend progressive jazz show on the station in addition to working as an on-air announcer. In November 1992, Cooke signed on at KIOS-FM and has been there ever since. He has hosted the Tuesday and Thursday editions of Jazz in the Afternoon since 1996 and has hosted Last Call since that year. A long time fan of jazz music, Cooke enjoys talking with the musicians who make jazz music and presenting those conversations with listeners. When not hosting or listening to jazz, on record or in person, Cooke maintains a busy schedule as a self-employed web design consultant.
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