Jazz by The Guardian

Author:The Guardian [Guardian, The]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: music, reviews, Jazz
ISBN: 9780852652787
Publisher: Guardian Books

Beginning again

The Observer, Benny Green, 23 July 1961

Sentimentalists who are alarmed at the harmonic complexity of modern jazz had better steer dear of “Coltrane Jazz”, for in one way this is the most remarkable jazz performance ever recorded. The tenor saxophonist John Coltrane has been occupied for some time with experiments which, if they prove workable, may make the revolutionary approach of the late Charlie Parker sound like a stilted reaction. Coltrane, evidently dissatisfied with the limitations of his instrument, has now evolved a method where he can play more than one note at the same time on an instrument whose keyboard was never designed for such effects.

In “Coltrane Jazz” may be heard the first fruits of Coltrane’s labours. Frankly they are crude and a little terrifying, and it is doubtful whether the achievement of a chord on a single-note instrument will ever play a substantial role in Coltrane’s aesthetic. In “Harmonique” these special effects sound almost like the gaucheries of a beginner who has not yet learned how to produce a normal tone. Experiments like this may even suggest to the listener that jazz, having passed through the virtuoso stage, has completed a full circle and is now doomed to a period of inchoate gurglings. Only the fluency and power of the rest of the album dispels these thoughts, for Coltrane, when in a more conventional mood, can produce work of surpassing beauty and exquisite harmonic sophistication.

One of his disciples is the Englishman Tubby Hayes, who has now arrived at a technical mastery so complete that one of our record companies has actually been tempted to allow him to record under ideal circumstances. That is to say, no expense spared in the way of accompaniment, studio time and orchestrations. The result is “Tubbs”, an issue which sets new standards for local jazzmen. Hayes has learned his harmonic subtlety from players like Coltrane and the most gifted Brits. “Tubbs” proves him also a capable vibraphonist, a clever composer of original themes and an orchestrator of great promise.

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