i still don't think he gets the credit he deserves. somewhat understandable when you're playing alongside someone like Coltrane. but he completely changed the game as far as drumming goes.
The thing that always hits me when I hear track is that it's only 4 human beings. They sound like a sonic legion as they cover an enormous amount of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic territory.
Yes. Was sitting here totally depressed about my medical situation, unable to shake off the Glooms and Voila! John Coltrane's, My Favorite Things, has transformed me. Again. It's magic!
An incredible moment 10:12-11:40. McCoy Tyner builds the tension for almost a minute and a half. Tyner plays dominant chords in parallel movement first with the original dominant of the key (B7) and then moves it up a whole step (first Db7, then Eb7, F7, G7 and so on) and finally returns to the original dominant. Even after this, he increases the tension with dissonant and powerful chords, until at 11:40 he powerfully releases the tension back to the first degree of the key, E major. When McCoy hits the E major chord, it feels like the gates of heaven are opening. Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison provide great support. Although I have listened and studied McCoy's solo many times in this particular live performance, I find something new and interesting every time. Arguably one of the greatest piano solos in all of jazz history in my opinion.
@@tboisneaudrums9911 Yes, My Favorite Things starts with E minor, but Coltrane's arrangement switches between extended E minor and E major sections, sandwiched by brief melody statements. McCoy's solo here starts with E minor vamp at 3:46. After that McCoy plays the theme and at around 8:30 vamp switches to E major. So yes, the tune starts and ends in E minor, but the solo section and the incredible parallel movement I was talking about is in the key of E major.
Have you heard the Live In Seattle album? I think he outplays this solo on that performance. It’d be interesting to hear your far more expert opinion on it. I’m a complete technical novice but I have an instinctive ear. Thanks for the musical explanation.
@@cavaleer Which Live in Seattle album are you talking about? As far as I know, there is no version of "My Favorite Things" on that album. I don't know if you mean the Coltrane album "Live at Half Note" with My Favorite Things. In that version, McCoy's solo is absolutely amazing!
I think I understand Frank Zappa when he said that 'talking about music is like dancing about architecture' - not that I particularly like Zappa - I mean, his music is impressive and technically brilliant, but it doesn't move me - not like this - and even though his comment has some truth, everyone who experiences this piece feels they have to say something. Coltrane opens the door here - gathers you into his spiritual world - this quartet must be the most powerful collection of players ever assembled - these players created 'A Love Supreme', which I believe established McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones as the greatest rhythm section that ever existed. Exstasy and profound agony come together in Coltrane's playing - it's almost unbearable to watch him here, raw, screaming and devoid of any kind of irony (a la Zappa) - despite the fact that the song which this piece is based on is a light, 'honky-white', frivolous waltz. Is that what Coltrane is saying here? - that the soft optimism of 'The Sound of Music' and 'Mary Poppins' is really an outrage? - that life fucking well is NOT like that??? - so he 'deconstructs' it, rips it apart, and in doing so creates another structure and a living art form that has some kind of triumph over 'this hideous thing that is human existence'.
At this point in the quartet’s development these four artists were completely at ease expressing their ideas, feelings, concepts and swing through this material. One of the all time greatest jazz quartets!
Absolutely...! I have dreamt of this band continuing into the 1970s, with guest performances of Eric Dolphy. I would have been able to go and see them...
40+ years ago we saw and heard Elvin Jones and co. At the Village Vanguard. The playlist was a replay of the legendary ‘Village Vanguard Tapes’ of the early Sixties. Magic! As we left, Elvin shook hands with everyone. A great artist, and a gentleman. I will never forget that evening!
my stepdad gave this to me on record when i built my dream setup. i hope this song plays at my funeral because life and this song are some of my favorite things.
This group of musicians were so far ahead of time. One could argue they were the best performers of the jazz genre. McCoy Tyners percussive approach to the piano was most notable and unique.
I'm 71years young when I do leave this realm this tune will accompany me to my new existence The greatest artistic endeavor in all of humankind it ranks with the 7wonders of the ancient world Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, Melville,WEB Dubois,CLR James would all recognize this music as a momentous moment in the chronicles of human experience
In this one song is the essence for those who love jazz and those who hate it. It's pretty easy to parody or ridicule the flights of insane improvisation that seem to have little to do with the number from, of all things, The Sound of Music. For critics, they feel it is excessive, unrelatable, long and self-indulgent. For those of us who love jazz this way, YES it is! Well, not unrelatable if you open yourself up to it. All of those things make this brilliant. They've taken a song and cast over it a moodiness that gets wild and out of control. It plumbs the depths of musical expression. We love the search to find something that didn't exist before each performance. Thank you!
I remember on any given Sunday sitting in the pulpit while my Aunty Doll belted Amazing Grace and getting “church chills”. This would’ve been no different. Boderline “orgasmic” (in reference to the quartet and certainly not church)
I got a chance to sit right next to McCoy way back in 2001. My seat was inches from his piano seat (I bribed a lot of people to make this happen). And what I saw was like from Mars. I got to see two shows. I was never the same after.
@@bobbysands6923 Man, if it was at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City, I might’ve been right next to you lol I caught him in 1998 it’s an intimate venue so I literally had ebony and ivory keys in my face
Those memories became beyond any descriptions of experience, no doubt. I sat in a chair at the Penthouse lounge Seattle Washington in about 1967 listening to someone I had never heard before, Miles Davis. He played his horn and we watched and flew away with our eyes, ears and opened mouths no doubt. He would play about a half hour, then he would walk away and stand a ways down a counter by the three other musicians. Then leaning on the counter watching them and listening to them, he sipped some liquid. After about 15 minutes or so, he would walk back into the trio/quartet, lift a horn and smoothly glide in, transporting us again to another world. We enjoyed hearing the others by themselves, but with him it was literally indescribable.
There was definitely a spiritual connection with all 4 of them. Although, it was technically a sax solo, it was truly a collective effort to make it sound so powerful! Wow! Imagine, being one of the people experiencing this live!
With Coltrane, and Miles, during this era...we shall never pass this way again. There was really no where else to go. They pushed the envelop of creativity and intensity to the outer reaches of the universe. No knock on the some of the truly great players since, but no one has come near this band, or the great Miles Davis Quintet of the mid 60s.
train didnt run over his woman.....davis did.....he was a striker davis was therefore a sick man. can no longer listen to him....males who strike wymn therefore terrorize children....bye.
It always blows my mind how much music of all types evolved during the 60s, especially jazz. 10 years prior to this recording was 1955 where anything close to this would have been unfathomable. 10 years prior to today? 2012. Obviously no comparison. I can't wrap my head around it. Coltrane's version of this standard is one of my favorite pieces of music... period. This live version is absolutely stunning. Thank you for uploading this. Wow!!
They were fighting to make music as relevant as an aggressive + unfathomable, soul-depraved world. I don't think artists have faced that dilemma since--or haven't truly taken on the challenge. As much as I admire current artists, they simply aren't on the forefront of every aspect of human life and culture, the way it felt guys like Coltrane were, if that's not too much to say. Life didn't filter through him into art (like now); he drew life + dragged life up through him + elevated it spiritually into a living, bleeding art, which is a vastly different process.
According to experts, listening to J.C for 60 minutes a day is too little! For these experts, listening to Coltrane for 720 minutes a day seems like a reasonable amount of time, especially for those who work from home. It is worth checking. 19:59
Amazing. So powerful. Elvin sounds like 3 drummers, all in the same pocket. McCoy - that solo! He continues the harmonic side-slipping under Trane's solo. As chromatic and dissonant as it 'should' sound, it all sounds like it's right in place. One big expanded harmonic universe.
It was 1971. I was 15 and learning how to play the drums. and it was my first time hearing Coltrane. My drum teacher told me of the beauty of Elvis Jones playing. That next year I went to a drum workshop featuring Max Roach and Jones. It was an amazing experience! To this day this quartet blows my mind! I suggest this video for any up and coming jazz musician.
Anybody who wants to say that I have lost my mind is free to do so, but if you live anywhere in the southwest, especially in Texas, you have great tailed Grackles somewhere nearby. The next time you hear them in the trees, stop and give a listen. A really good listen. There are about 6 of these birds that hang out in my palm tree, and I swear they sing stuff like this all day. Not the melody, but the improvisation. I've been listening to Coltrane and this song in particular since about 1975, so I'm familiar with it. I started noticing the Grackle birds about 7 years ago, and it's pretty amazing what comes out of them, especially during mating season. They sing all kinds of whole tone scales and harmonic minor modal riffs that honestly sound very similar to the things these guys are doing here. I thought I was going nuts at first, but repeated listening to both the birds and Coltrane makes me wonder if he ever just sat in the park and listened to them, maybe brought his sax and possibly jammed with the Grackles. Anybody who has them nearby should test my hypothesis and then tell me if I'm nuts
from Ireland! so don't know those birds, but love where ur comeing from. thats why trane in my humble opinion was always searching for the next level.already on another level to the rest of us!
@@paulrodden3773 You are obviously somebody who can think outside of the box. Most people who can even comprehend Coltrane fit that description. I've had people tell me "turn it off!" or leave the room if I try to play them something like "Impressions" or "Cousin Mary" those of us who refuse to wear the straitjacket and the ball and chain can hear things coming from the birds, (Charlie Parker's nickname was Bird) or the wind, or a waterfall, or a train rolling by on the tracks, are open to the possibility that not everything we value comes from cut and dried sources. I'll never know for sure if Coltrane ever sat in the park and played along with the Grackles, but given the kind of man he was, I like to think that he was capable of being open to the idea that those birds are musicians too, and that he could learn something from them.
@@jpalberthoward9 thanks for the kind words! i honestly was listening to bird dizzy and monk all together in ""melancholy babe" just now, im on a night of music. best to u and the crackles.
@@paulrodden3773 if you want to at least get some idea of how they sound, there are lots of videos on YT that feature them just type in Great tailed Grackle calls. The only thing is that none of the videos really do them justice compared to what you hear if you come upon 3 or 4 of them in the tree when they really get on a roll. They really are characters.
@@jpalberthoward9 i will tomorrow i promise! tonight im on a buzz with music and other substances! i would like more of this chatter cus u sound interesting, only this morning i was feeding the sparrows, finches and robins! tonight im alone with head phones and enjoying the buzz. are u in the afternoon there and warm in Texas. listening to the gods of art. i can listen to other music to, but allways go back to where we came from. i just had on Louis armstrong, " st James infirmary" i dont know where to go now, do i dare put on coltrane Tyner "song of the underground railroad. or afro blue"
Actually seeing John play is like going to church!!! This bravery beyond what most people will ever know, it's known as Training in!!! Guitar players freak over Van Halen's eruption but this is how you release energy
This 1961 albumn of the same name had a profound influence on Duanne Allman. It is one of Duanne's most cited influences. McCoy Tyner improvising solos over a two-chord vamp! One of the best-known jazz tracks in history!
Improvising a great song in 3/4-6/8 time..., difficult/challenging for sure..., saw the the great Jimmy Garrison with McCoy Tyner at UMass Amherst in 1972..., when he played a double bass solo, had the room mesmerized! (to use an old cliche!)
McCoy Tyner - epic - what a mood, what energy - those chords - crazy chromatism but every note sounds perfect somehow. Elvin matching him. Coltrane bringing it all together and adding beauty and suspense and pure joy. And the bass - is this the best band of any genre ever? Certainly the most mind blowing - it never sounds old - I want this to be the sound track of my life.
This is already the McCoy Tyner who became *the* giant of jazz piano later on with his tsunamis of tones (cp. the ‘Atlantis‘ cover). In the recordings from 1963, only two years earlier, he was still searching for his style and played more ‘cautious‘, less self-confident.
Haven't checked in here in 5 years. This used to have millions of hits, being one of the greatest live jazz recordings of all time, which was never released except in the most obscure bootlegs, and during the 70s-90s was spoken of only in hushed and reverent tones. I guess I can understand why they took it down. The times are not worthy of this music.
I love this poem by the norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold called "Friends" (translated to english): Does anyone have anything against me putting on some John Coltrane? No, that would be difficult.
🎼🎶 Unbelievably Awesome!🎓📚 Those in the audience witnessed the greatest display of Improvisational musicianship that ascended to the highest spiritual level of natural energy and frequency. You can see and feel the deep commitment on John Coltrane's face. ✍️📜Thank the Heavens this was captured on video, and the video production was excellent in capturing each player🕯💕🕊🙏
Hi. In a dream last night I was having a conversation about records. This guy said to me “you’ve got to listen to the John Coltrane Quartet- it will blow your mind”. Have only vaguely heard of JC and never been into jazz before. Anyway I just put this on and yes! The guy in my dream was right! It is utterly mind-blowing! After popping my jazz virginity and looking through these comments, thought I’d share with you what brought me here. Why do you consider it ‘the best’? How did you get into jazz? I’m so intrigued. 🤔
In so many videos of this group playing live, you can actually see steam visibly rising from the players on the bandstand. Sometimes the mist obscures the players entirely, giving the impression of red hot bodies in a frigid environment. Elvin Hayes at times was a virtual mist tornado at the center of the group. They must have all been playing at such an insane level to create such a vision of intensity and common purpose. Just really such transcendent performances captured for posterity.
This is is just mind-blowing; by far, one of the greatest jazz performances I've ever heard in my entire life. The passion all four of the musicians have is just amazing; the look on Jimmy Garrison's face alone shows just how into-it the quartet is.
This performance transcends music definition!! I hear jazz/classical/eastern Indian raga/blues/rock, etc, yet it's completely different and fresh-sounding every time I hear it...
YES YES YES! Thank you for uploading this. It used to be on RU-vid, then it was taken down - so pleased it's back, as this is the BEST version for marvelling at McCoy Tyner.
@@mkeenan1955 Always makes the hairs on my neck stand up, and I've watched this hundreds of times. If I knew these guys were gonna be reincarnated, just for a repeat performance, I'd drop everything and go anywhere in the world to see it, and die a happy man.
I love jazz. I love it because It´s astonishing how something that seems chaotic can be so beautiful and somehow make sense to us, the uneducated audience. ¿Perhaps it can be said that free jazz is fractal music? If that is true, then jazz is no diferent than life, nature and the cosmos itself.
I think I've heard maybe twenty different live versions of My Favorite Things. I've listened to each of them a few hundred of times over the last 35+ years. This is one of my favorite versions, maybe because it is one of the few with live video. I've just watched it three more times, back to back to back, and I'm speechless every single time I watch it. I LOVE this song!
What you are seeing here, as I’m sure that you already know is one more of the greatest jazz compositions delivered by the 4 great gods of jazz: Coltrane; Tyner; Garrison & Jones
My daughter asked me what it takes to understand Coltrane. I told her acceptance. Acceptance of your own need to not fit in. Then a mastery of your own feelings and self expression.
