Ascension

JOHN COLTRANE ASCENSION


 * Original Released:1966
 * Remastered:2001
 * Genre: Jazz
 * Style: Free Jazz

About
This album played a profoundly important role in John Coltrane's final period. Recorded in June 1965, almost exactly two years before his death, this session marks Coltrane's final stepping off point into free jazz. The album also marks a division for Coltrane's fans, as there are some that applaud his final escape from jazz tradition while others simply couldn't follow him into the great unknown.

One way or another, Ascension refuses to be ignored. A stunning list of colleagues joins the legendary saxophonist on his final quest. Besides his famed regular quartet, avant-garde saxophonists Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp, extra bassist Art Davis, and even trumpet star Freddie Hubbard, among others, produce an intense sonic assault. If you're sensitive to dissonant noise and uncontrolled barrages of sound, Adcension will offer you no comfort. However, the unbridled emotional onslaught that Coltrane unleashes here dwarfs any other artist's entire output. Love it or hate it, this is one disc that's sure to stay on your mind long after its din has faded.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on June 28, 1965.

Originally released on Impulse (95)

Tracklist

 * 1."Ascension" Edition II - 40:56
 * 2."Ascension" Edition I - 38:31

Edition II (40:25)

 * 1.(Opening Ensemble)
 * 2.Coltrane solo (3:10 - 5:48 )
 * 3.(Ensemble)
 * 4.Johnson solo (7:45 - 9:30)
 * 5.(Ensemble)
 * 6.Sanders solo (11:55 - 14:25)
 * 7.(Ensemble)
 * 8.Hubbard solo (15:40 - 17:40)
 * 9.(Ensemble)
 * 10.Tchicai solo (18:50 - 20:00)
 * 11.(Ensemble)
 * 12.Shepp solo (21:10 - 24:10)
 * 13.(Ensemble)
 * 14.Brown solo (25:10 - 27:16)
 * 15.(Ensemble)
 * 16.Tyner solo (29:55 - 33:26)
 * 17.Davis, Garrison duet (33:26 - 35:50)
 * 18.(Concluding Ensemble)

Edition I

 * 1.(Opening Ensemble)
 * 2.Coltrane solo (4:05 - 6:05)
 * 3.(Ensemble)
 * 4.Johnson solo (7:58 - 10:07)
 * 5.(Ensemble)
 * 6.Sanders solo (11:15 - 13:30)
 * 7.(Ensemble)
 * 8.Hubbard solo (14:53 - 17:50)
 * 9.(Ensemble)
 * 10.Shepp solo (18:55 - 21:40)
 * 11.(Ensemble)
 * 12.Tchicai solo (23:11 - 24:56)
 * 13.(Ensemble)
 * 14.Brown solo (26:23 - 28:31)
 * 15.(Ensemble)
 * 16.Tyner solo (29:39 - 31:36)
 * 17.Davis, Garrison duet (31:36 - 33:30)
 * 18.Jones solo (33:30 - 33:55)
 * 19.(Concluding Ensemble)

Personnel

 * Marion Brown - alto saxophone
 * John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
 * Art Davis - upright bass
 * Jimmy Garrison - upright bass
 * Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
 * Dewey Johnson - trumpet
 * Elvin Jones - drums
 * Pharoah Sanders - tenor saxophone
 * Archie Shepp - tenor saxophone
 * John Tchicai - alto saxophone
 * McCoy Tyner - piano