Lost recordings from John Coltrane will be released for the first time this month.
The previously unheard body of work was recorded by the legendary and hugely influential jazz musician in 1963, and will finally see the light of day decades after the master tape was likely destroyed in the 1970s.
However, the saxophonist’s own reference tape was given to his wife Naima shortly before their divorce, and it stayed in her possession ever since.
‘Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album’ was recorded at the Van Gelder studios in New Jersey, and will be released on June 29.
The full record will feature Coltrane working as part of the quartet that defined much of his classic LPs, which featured Elvin Jones on drums, McCoy Tyner on piano and Jimmy Garrison on double bass.
Included in the seven songs are two completely unheard original compositions – ‘Untitled Original 11383’ and ‘Untitled Original 11386’ – while ‘One Up, One Down’ has never been heard as a studio version, with the only previous recording coming as part of a live bootleg taken at the Birdland jazz club.
As reported by The Guardian newspaper Sonny Rollins, one of the musician’s peers and an iconic jazz saxophonist in his own write, likened the discovery to "finding a new room in the Great Pyramid".
Meanwhile, British jazz and improv saxophonist Evan Parker suggested this period – two years before ‘Ascension’ when Coltrane expanded to a big band sound – was "his best work".
Praising the "astonishing levels of intuitive understand" between Coltrane and Jones, he added to the publication: "This release is most welcome – the ‘classic quartet’ was where Coltrane did his best work."
Lost John Coltrane album to be released
