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Oct 12, 2023 Web Exclusive By Matthew Berlyant

Well, this is a wild one. Long thought lost, the tapes of these 1961 performances at the Village Gate (now Le Poisson Rouge) in New York were recently discovered in the New York Public Library archives after sitting on the shelves for 50 years. Recorded by engineer Rich Alderson to test out their then state-of-the-art sound system, fans who don’t mind the iffy sound quality will absolutely revel in these performances, in which Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane (who met in 1959 when Dolphy moved to New York) are accompanied by other jazz legends like McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones. They all (particularly Tyner on keyboards and Jones on drums) formed the core of Coltrane’s legendary band up until and including his 1965 masterpiece A Love Supreme.

Included here is a 15-minute plus take on “My Favorite Things” and four other tracks, all over 10 minutes, culminating with the 22-minute plus “Africa.” Thus, it may taste the patience of non-hardcore fans, it’s an absolute delight for those who want to hear these two colossuses of the saxophone (with apologies to Sonny Rollins) collaborate in a live setting before Dolphy went off to Europe and before Coltrane’s legendary run of albums on Impulse!. The physical release also features extensive liner notes from Workman and Alderson alongside historian Ashley Kahn and jazz musicians Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin. (www.impulserecords.com)

Author rating: 8/10