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Jun 08, 2018 John Coltrane By Christopher Roberts Photography by © Chuck Stewart Photography, LLC

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Legendary jazz label Impulse! have announced that they are releasing a previously unreleased John Coltrane album featuring original, never-before-heard compositions recorded in 1963. The album is entitled Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album and is due out June 29. The label has shared one song from it, “Untitled Original 11383,” which you can stream below. Also below is the album’s tracklist and cover art.

The album was recorded on March 6, 1963 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood, NJ. It features Coltrane with his classic quartet of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. The master tape for this session had long since been lost, but at the end of the session Coltrane had gone home to Queens and shared the reference tape with his wife, Naima. The family held onto the good quality tape and 55 years later it’s finally seeing the light of day.

The album includes two never-before-heard originals, “Untitled Original 11383” and “Untitled Original 11386,” both played on soprano sax. Then “One Up, One Down” was only previously available via a live bootleg from the Birdland club, this is the first time the studio version has been heard. And then there are early versions of “Impressions” (which here doesn’t feature piano, unlike later versions) and “Nature Boy.”

John Coltrane’s son, Ravi Coltrane (an accomplished jazz player in his own right), chose what he felt were the seven best takes from the session and those are being released as the standard edition on CD, vinyl, and digital. There’s then a deluxe edition on the same formats that includes an additional seven takes.

Of historical note, the next day in the same studio Coltrane and his band would record a famous album with jazz singer Johnny Hartman, the fittingly titled John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

Legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins is quoted in a press release about Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album as saying: “This is like finding a new room in the Great Pyramid.”

Danny Bennett, President and CEO of the Verve Label Group and home of Impulse!, had this to say in the press release: “Jazz is more relevant today than ever. It’s becoming the alternative music of the 21st century, and no one embodies the boundary-breaking essence of jazz more than John Coltrane. He was a visionary who changed the course of music, and this lost album is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. It gives us insight into his creative process and connects us to his artistry. This album is a cultural moment and the release coincides perfectly with our relaunch of the iconic Impulse! label.”

Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album Tracklist:

Standard Edition Tracklist:

1. Untitled Original 11383 (5:41)
2. Nature Boy (3:24)
3. Untitled Original 11386 (8:43)
4. Vilia (5:32)
5. Impressions (4:36)
6. Slow Blues (11:28)
7. One Up, One Down (8:01)

Deluxe Edition Tracklist:

CD1

1. Untitled Original 11383 (Take 1) (5:41)
2. Nature Boy (3:24)
3. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 1) (8:43)
4. Vilia (Take 3) (5:32)
5. Impressions (Take 3) (4:36)
6. Slow Blues (11:28)
7. One Up, One Down (Take 1) (8:01)

CD2

1. Vilia (Take 5) (4:37)
2. Impressions (Take 1) (4:06)
3. Impressions (Take 2) (4:37)
4. Impressions (Take 4) (3:40)
5. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 2) (8:41)
6. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 5) (8:23)
7. One Up, One Down (Take 6) (7:17)

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