on 8/28/02 12:20 PM, Steve Smith at ssmith36@sprynet.com wrote:

On Tue, 27 Aug 2002 17:12:33 -0700 skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> wrote:

...

it doesn't sound to me like the group identity of which you speak was > ever realized. emphasize "to me".

With all due respect, this is one of those comparatively rare instances where I have to step in and say, "SKIP HELLER IS WRONG." (Though he's certainly entitled to his opinion.)

The last Coltrane group is so vastly UNDERrated it's just plain sad, and in particular, Alice's role (though I can't say I'm so blown away with every album that's currently being reissued in the ongoing rehabilitation of her career). Even supporters fall prey to unwitting condescension - witness Bill Shoemaker's recent Jazz Times review, where he basically credits Alice with rolling up her sleeves and going to work like all good widows do, completely disregarding her distinguished career preceding the years with Trane. Uggh.

Actually, I'm an Alice fan, so I'm only partially wrong ;-)

To my earrs, the late group created a striking, singular sound and maintained it for a few short, incandescent years. And yes, while a great many musicians did sit in with the band in its not-quite-final years, on record the quartet/quintet is emphasized to great advantage.

This is where I disagree.

The posthumously released 'Stellar Regions' just reaffirms how tragic Trane's death was - the group was clearly on the cusp of something new, including a newborn synthesis of the later expressionistic style and the earlier sense of form and structure.

And in that paragraph, you're sort of making my point. SR was, for me, pointing towards a new great era. I always thought that the key to Trane was that his greatest moments -- throughout -- were the ones where he was standing on the verge of something he hadn't gotten to before and he's breaking through to it. We're talking about a guy who mastered the technique of an instrument and the considerations of harmony in a way that few have since managed (and, frankly, the guy with aruguably the most severe post-Trane chops, Michael Brecker, has not always been guided by the rules of art, to put it mildly). The big Trane consideration to me has been: "You've moved technique and harmony past where they've ever been before, and you've done it without ever coming off like a robot. Now what?" One solution would be to densify the harmony, which is what Wayne Shorter did in his Miles period. Another would be to dispense with what you know and start trying to design new strategies. If you're going to go that route, you're likely not going to be as successful as you were when all the forms were laid out for you. If you listen to the version of "Out Of This World" on the Seattle album, you can tell the guy is really trying to bulldoze his former conception of the tune. As to how successful the performance, that's up to the listener. But I think it's one of the most telling performances of his career. Redrawing the map as you're marching over the terrain is not going to guarantee your success as a topographer. The thrill is more clearly in the journey. skip h

----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Smith <ssmith36@sprynet.com>

The posthumously released 'Stellar Regions' just reaffirms how tragic Trane's death was - the group was clearly on the cusp of something new, including a newborn synthesis of the later expressionistic style and the earlier sense of form and structure.

A great album for sure... As I am not a big fan of free jazz, i do not play that one very often - but I must say that album has something peculiar, some kind of romantism and blues simplicity reconstructed in a very open context. If you compare that and, say, 'Coltrane plays the blues', you may have some strange sense of continuity. Marcin (glad to be back on the list after holidays spent ia in hospital)