A Trane Tribute and a Carnegie Afternoon

In this week’s releases from the Newport Jazz Archives, we’re traveling back to Carnegie Hall on June 27, 1976 to bring you four sets for your streaming and downloading pleasure. From the evening show, check out Elvin Jones paying tribute to John Coltrane as he and his band ran through A Love Supreme and, from the afternoon show that started at 1 PM, dig into the George Coleman Septet, Anthony Braxton and Ted Curson.

Preview the recordings with the tracks below, and click on the headers to hear and download the entire concerts. Enjoy!

Elvin Jones Quartet
As part of a bill for an evening “Tribute to Trane” concert, Jones and his quartet at the time (bassist David Williams, guitarist Ryo Kawasaki and saxophonist Pat LaBarbera) tackled the four-part suite from the spiritually charged A Love Supreme, the classic John Coltrane album that featured Jones on drums. Though he had left Coltrane’s quartet ten years prior (shortly before Coltrane’s death) and was approaching his 49th birthday at the time, Jones proves he was still on top of his game and up to the task of fueling this set. A powerful tribute indeed.

George Coleman Septet
A powerhouse tenor saxophonist with a robust tone that speaks of his apprenticeship during the early ‘50s with B.B. King, Coleman continues to be one of the most authoritative and respected players on the jazz scene today. At this Carnegie Hall performance his group played renditions of numbers that later appeared on Coleman’s 1977 album as a leader, Revival. Whether navigating unison lines at breakneck speeds, performing lush ballads, or soloing with blazing heat, everyone in the band is on fire (though pianist Harold Mabern deserves a special mention) during this phenomenal set.

Anthony Braxton Ensemble
Employing a heavily theoretical approach to jazz, Braxton stunned this Carnegie Hall crowd with his highly idiosyncratic music. His usual quartet featuring Barry Altschul on drums, Dave Holland on bass, and George Lewis taking the brass seat was augmented by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams for this line-up’s one-off performance of his eight-movement “Composition No. 70.” Though Braxton dedicates the piece to Duke Ellington beforehand, the challenging music has more in common with 20th century classical composers like Stockhausen and Varese who disregarded traditional forms of composition.

Ted Curson
This Carnegie Hall concert marked trumpeter Ted Curson’s return to the United States after being abroad (mostly in Denmark) since the late 1960s. An aggressive soloist with a distinct edge in his trumpet style, Curson easily straddled the hard bop and free bop divide, and there are excellent examples of each in this set.