John Coltrane - 1965 - Sun Ship

Sun Ship - John Coltrane

Impulse, 1965

An excellent set of tracks that was recorded by Coltrane in 1965, but not released until after his death, when Impulse were going through the vaults, and pulling out some amazing work that ranked with his best official releases of the time.

Other than First Meditations, which was not released at the time, Sun Ship was the final studio album by John Coltrane's classic quartet before Pharoah Sanders joined the band on second tenor. At this point in time, Coltrane was using very short repetitive themes as jumping-off points for explosive improvisations, often centered around one chord and a very specific spiritual mood. Tyner sounds a bit conservative in comparison, but Jones keeps up with Trane's fire (especially on "Amen"). Even in the most intense sections (and much of this music is atonal), there is a logic and thoughtfulness about Coltrane's playing.

Personnel:

John Coltrane - Tenor Saxophone

McCoy Tyner - Piano

Jimmy Garrison - Bass

Elvin Jones - Drums

1. Sun Ship 6:13

2. Dearly Beloved 6:27

3. Amen 8:16

4. Attaining 11:27

5. Ascent 10:05

Charles Sullivan - 1976 - Re-entry

One of the few sessions ever cut as a leader by soul jazz trumpeter Charles Sullivan, a brilliant talent who shone brightly in the mid 70s, working in hip small groups that were very much in the Strata East mode. This rare, previously Japanese-only release has Sullivan working with Rene McLean, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, and Billy Hart on a tightly crafted set of tunes that share the same lyrical searching quality as some of McLean or Barron's own work from the time. The compositions are incredibly soulful, very much in the mode of some of Billy Harper's genius Japanese recordings.

01 - Re-entry

02 - Body & Soul

03 - Carefree

04 - Waltz For Cricket

05 - Mabe's Way

06 - Body & Soul

07 - Carefree