Ascension is the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde. Whereas, prior to 1965, Coltrane could be heard playing in an avant vein with stretched out solos, atonality, and a seemingly free design to the beat, Ascension throws most rules right out the window with complete freedom from the groove and strikingly abrasive sheets of horn interplay. Recorded with three tenors (Trane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp), two altos (Marion Brown, John Tchicai), two trumpet players (Freddie Hubbard, Dewey Johnson), two bassists (Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison), the lone McCoy Tyner on piano, and Elvin Jones on the drums, this large group is both relentless and soulful simultaneously. While there are segments where the ensemble plays discordant and abrasive skronks, these are usually segues into intriguing blues-based solos from each member. The comparison that is immediately realized is Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz of five years previous. However, it should be known that Ascension certainly carries it own weight, and in a strange sense makes Coleman's foray a passive adventure -- mostly due to an updated sonic quality (à la Bob Thiele) and also Trane's greater sense of passionate spiritualism. Timed at around forty minutes, this can be a difficult listen at first, but with a patient ear and an appreciation for the finer things in life, the reward is a greater understanding of the personal path that the artist was on at that particular time in his development. Coltrane was always on an unceasing mission for personal expansion through the mouthpiece of his horn, but by the time of this recording he had begun to reach the level of "elder statesman" and began to find other voices (Shepp, Sanders, and Marion Brown) to propel and expand his sounds and emotions. Therefore, Ascension reflects more of an event rather than just a jazz record and should be sought out by either experienced jazz appreciators or other open minded listeners, but not by unsuspecting bystanders. ~ Jack LV Isles, All Music Guide
Marion Brown (Sax (Alto)), Art Davis (Bass), Elvin Jones (Drums), Archie Shepp (Sax (Tenor)), Jimmy Garrison (Bass), McCoy Tyner (Piano), John Coltrane (Sax (Tenor)), John Coltrane (Main Performer), Rudy Van Gelder (Engineer), Freddie Hubbard (Trumpet), Freddie Hubbard (Sax (Tenor)), Dewey Johnson (Trumpet), Peter Keepnews (Liner Editor), Kevin Reeves (Mastering), Pharoah Sanders (Sax (Tenor)), John Tchicai (Sax (Alto)), Bob Thiele (Producer), Chuck Stewart (Photography), A.B. Spellman (Liner Notes), Charles Stewart (Photography), Hollis King (Art Direction), Ben Young (Reissue Research), Edward Odowd (Design), Tom Greenwood (Reissue Research), Tom Greenwood (Reissue Production Coordination), Joe Lebow (Liner Design), Lewis Porter (Liner Notes), Robert Flynn (Cover Design), Carlos Kase (Reissue Research), Carlos Kase (Reissue Production Coordination), Bryan Koniarz (Reissue Production Supervisor), Sherniece Smith (Art Producer), Jamie Krents (Research Assistant), John Wriggle (Research Assistant), John Wriggle (Reissue Production Assistance)
Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane,
recorded and released in 1965. It is often considered to be a watershed album, with the albums released before it being more
conventional in structure and the albums released after it being looser, free jazz inspired
works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. Coltrane described Ascension
in a radio interview as a "big band thing", although it resembles no big band recording made
before it. The most obvious antecedent is Ornette Coleman's octet ("double quartet")
recording, Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, which,
like Ascension, is a continuous forty-minute performance with ensemble passages and without breaks. But Coltrane's
eleven-piece group is much more integrated, moored to a monolithic rhythm section (centered on drummer Elvin Jones - second drummer Rashied Ali abruptly dropped out of the
session shortly before the recording was to take place) rather than Coleman's duelling, more or less independent quartets.
On Ascension (and unlike on Free Jazz), group ensembles alternate with solos, and take up about equal space.
Coltrane gave the musicians no directions for their solos, besides that they were to end with a crescendo. The ensemble passages
are more structured. There were chords, but apparently they were optional; it is more accurate to say that the ensembles consist
of a progression of modes rather than chords, with mode changes signalled by Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.
By comparison to Free Jazz, Ascension features a much expanded "front line", with two altos, three tenors, and
two trumpeters. The horn section consisted mostly of younger players, most of whom would soon attain some degree of fame on the
(free) jazz scene. A notable exception is trumpeter Dewey Johnson, who plays the first solo of
the album after Coltrane. Plagued by mental illness, Johnson never made another professional recording, eventually disappearing
in New York City in the 1980s. Because of Johnson's obscurity, and his prominent place on
the album, his solo is sometimes mistaken for Hubbard's.
Two takes of the piece were recorded. The second take was issued first, then withdrawn at Coltrane's insistence; this came to
be called "Ascension, Edition I" (although nowhere on the LP was it identified as such). It was eventually replaced with the
first take, similar except with a different solo order and no drum solo by Jones. This is "Edition II", and an etching in the
outgroove of the vinyl LP identified it as such. Apparently Coltrane wanted to record a third
take, but Jones refused - allegedly kicking over the bass drum and throwing the snare at the wall before storming out of the
studio.[citation needed]
Jazz musician Dave Liebman, commenting on Ascension, recalled that the album was the
"torch that lit the free jazz thing".
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