Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Lost John Coltrane Record Still Sounds Like Freedom

26/07/2023

Lost John Coltrane Record Still Sounds Like Freedom Ethnomusicologist Emmett G. Price III unpacks Evenings at the Village Gate and the enduring power of a sound so bold and liberated that some critics dismissed it as anti-jazz.

By

John Mirisola

July 26, 2023

John Coltrane

Image by Hugo van Gelderen (Anefo)/Wikimedia Commons

Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy was released this month on Impulse Records.

A fresh John Coltrane release, Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane (with Eric Dolphy), emerged this summer like a time capsule from 1961. Discovered in the New York Public Library archives, this live recording captures the powerful collaboration between saxophonist John Coltrane and woodwind player Eric Dolphy, unfairly maligned by some critics of its day as anti-jazz.

In honor of this rare opportunity to hear a new Coltrane album in the 21st century, we spoke with ethnomusicologist Emmett G. Price III, dean of Africana Studies at Berklee. Prices fascination with Coltrane dates back to his undergraduate days and the publication of his first academic article, The Development of John Coltranes Concept of Spirituality and Its Expression in Music. In this interview, he sheds light on the musical and cultural significance of this long-lost recording.

How do you approach this newly unearthed set of recordings as an ethnomusicologist? As an ethnomusicologist, I am geeked! Richard Alderson was the engineer at the Village Gate in 1961. The 24-year-old often experimented with the state-of-the-art sound system and recorded parts of Coltrane's residency. Alderson would go on to engineer recordings for Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Roberta Flack, Grover Washington Jr., Bill Withers, David Sanborn, Muddy Waters, and numerous others, including Bob Dylan. This recording was discovered by a Bob Dylan archivist at the New York Public Library.

Evenings at the Village Gate not only gives us a glimpse at what Coltrane and Dolphy were working on musically, but also a perspective on their relationship. Dolphy has a lot to say (musically) as part of Coltrane's band. Absolutely fascinating!

During the summer of 1961 the Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum with protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and freedom rides. Within this context, Evenings at the Village Gate offers another example of the power of courageous musicians to inspire hope, innovation, and empowerment through sound.

- Emmett G. Price III, Dean of Africana Studies

Around the time of this recording, the seemingly chaotic music Coltrane and Dolphys quintet was performing was criticized by a DownBeat writer as anti-jazz. What made this music so controversial in the jazz scene during its time? I do not hear chaos. I hear courage, honesty, transparency, brilliance, pain, trauma, and many other feelings and emotions, but not chaos. Coltrane played with a definitive sense of precision. The whole idea of sheets of sound is a reference to his deliberate approach to improvisation. Dolphy was known to hold conversations with birds during his practice sessions in Los Angeles.

When [critics] John Tynan, Leonard Feather, and others disparaged Coltrane, Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and others with the label anti-jazz, it was a reflection of the arrogance of perceived superiority. Coltrane and Dolphy were not controversial, they were two liberated Black men inspiring others to the same liberation. Their sound unleashed hope in the midst of suffering and invoked the sounds of ancestors while calling forth the empowerment of generations to come.

Bring us up to the present: What do you think is the cultural or historical legacy of a new Coltrane recording in 2023? Why should people listen to these recordings, and what should they listen for? Coltrane was a guru. Any new writings, recordings or even photographs help us to learn more about one of the most impactful and influential creatives in the history of humanity. During the summer of 1961 the Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum with protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and freedom rides.

Within this context, Evenings at the Village Gate offers another example of the power of courageous musicians to inspire hope, innovation, and empowerment through sound. From the 15:45-minute version of My Favorite Things to the 22:41-minute rendition of Africa, we experience Coltrane, Dolphy, Art Davis, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Reggie Workman doing their part to make the world a better place for all through the gift of creative expression.

We all know that this word which so many seem to fear today, Freedom, has a hell of a lot to with this music.

- John Coltrane

In discussing this release with NPR, ensemble bassist Reggie Workman said Coltrane was growing into a place where he did not want to be inhibited by the steps and the changes that were prescribed by certain structures. . . . He wanted us to be about a chant. What do you take this to mean? The word chant means to sing or intone. Coltrane challenged his band to find their inner personal voice and free it by singing or intoning without boundary, stricture, or inhibition. He challenged them to embrace their mind, body, and spirit while exploring, examining, and engaging the creative process beyond any self-imposed limitations.

In a June 2, 1962 letter to DownBeats editor, Don DeMichael, Coltrane responded to critiques and assertions of anti-jazz by stating, Any music which could grow and propagate itself as our music has, must have a hell of an affirmative belief inherent in it. Any person who claims to doubt this, or claims to believe that the exponents of our music of freedom are not guided by this same entity, is either prejudiced, musically sterile, just plain stupid or scheming. Believe me, Don, we all know that this word which so many seem to fear today, Freedom,' has a hell of a lo
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/lost-john-coltrane-record-sti...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

26/03/2026

Phantom C-Series High-Speed Cameras Set a New Standard for Automotive Crash and Safety Imaging

Wayne, N.J., March 26, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the latest product li...

25/03/2026

In The Hot Seat: The Art of Directing a Premier League Match

Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...

25/03/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Kyle Maier, St. Bonaventure University

The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team In the live-sports-video ind...

25/03/2026

NAB 2026: Synamedia Launches Edge Watermarking Solution, Marks 10 Years of ContentArmor

Synamedia has announced ContentArmor Edge Watermarking, a server-side solution t...

25/03/2026

SES Taps K2 Space to Build meoSphere MEO Satellite Network

SES has announced meoSphere, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network targeted for operation by 2030. The first phase will pair SES-developed software-defin...

25/03/2026

Reuters and TVU Networks Begin Satellite-to-IP Migration for Live News Distribution

TVU Networks is working with Reuters on a phased migration from satellite to a c...

25/03/2026

Nielsen Names Three Senior Hires in Sports, Advertising, and Publishing Roles

Nielsen has announced three senior appointments. Seth Ladetsky has been named Head of Global Sports. Trevor Fellows will lead Nielsen's advertiser and agenc...

25/03/2026

Anoki and Amagi Bring Scene-Level Intelligence to In-Content CTV Ads

Anoki and Amagi have launched In-Scene Ads powered by Anoki ContextIQ across Amagi's portfolio of in-content ad formats for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (...

25/03/2026

NAB 2026: Arkona to Unveil BLADE//planner and Platform Updates

Arkona Technologies will announce a series of enhancements to its BLADE//runner platform at NAB 2026 (Booth C.1808). The updates focus on usability and workflow...

25/03/2026

San Diego Padres Partners With Daktronics to Enhance Petco Park

Daktronics has installed two tower displays and a video wall in the Lexus Club at Petco Park in San Diego ahead of the 2026 season. Continuing to improve the ...

25/03/2026

NAB 2026: MultiDyne Marks 50th Anniversary

MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is celebrating its 50th anniversary as NAB Show 2026 approaches. The company was founded in 1976 by Vincent Jachetta, an N...

25/03/2026

NAB 2026: IPC to Debut with One Connect Intercom Platform and New One Link Keypanels

IPC, a provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 de...

25/03/2026

ESPN Tops 2026 Sports Emmy Nominations With 63 Nods

Live production categories were led by NBC, FOX, and ESPN's NFL coverage...

25/03/2026

Atlanta Braves and Spectrum Reach Multiyear Distribution Agreement for BravesVision

The Atlanta Braves and Spectrum have announced a multiyear distribution agreemen...

25/03/2026

The AI Doc Asks the Question No One Wants to Answer

(L-R) Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher attend The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre ...

25/03/2026

Kelsey Lu and Savanah Leaf Lean Into the Emotional Core of Running To Pain' in Episode Three of Directed By'

Directed By, Spotify's documentary-style series that pulls back the curtain ...

25/03/2026

BTS and Spotify Bring ARIRANG' to Top Fans in New York City

BTS is so back., This week, the global pop superstars took the stage at New York City's Pier 17 for their first U.S. performance in four years. Part of Spo...

25/03/2026

Step Into Sound at Our New Spotify Listening Lounge in London

How you listen can shape what you hear. That's the idea behind the new Spotify Listening Lounge, an acoustic space at our London headquarters purpose-built ...

25/03/2026

Iconic Instruments launch Transport Vintage Tape

Tape effects taken to the extreme The latest release from New York-based developer Iconic Instruments is said to accurately recreate the saturation and comp...

25/03/2026

Sonuscore introduce Fantasy Vocal Phrases

Launched alongside new Vocal Phrases bundle Sonuscore's latest release has been designed specifically for composers working on fantasy TV, film and game...

25/03/2026

Steinberg unveil Nuendo 15

Latest update now live The latest version of Steinberg's post-production-focused DAW has just arrived, and comes packed with new dialogue editing, sound...

25/03/2026

Rohde & Schwarz joins FormFactor's MeasureOne partner program

Rohde & Schwarz joins FormFactor's MeasureOne partner program FormFactor and Rohde & Schwarz advance their partnership for on-wafer RF component character...

25/03/2026

L3Harris, RFTEQ Sign Agreement to Advance Sovereign Electronic Warfare Capability in Australia

L3Harris Technologies and RFTEQ Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to ...

25/03/2026

L3Harris to Provide Autonomous Underwater Capability for US Navy Submarines

L3Harris delivers combat-ready Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system, which deploys and retrieves Iver4 900 autonomous underwater vehicles through submarine t...

25/03/2026

Nielsen Names New Senior Leaders Supporting Sports, Advertising and Publishing Clients

The company expands leadership team under Chief Revenue Officer Amilcar Perez S...

25/03/2026

Stable TV Viewership in Poland in February as Warner Bros. Discovery Retains Top Spot

Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony features in top 10 programmes of the month...

25/03/2026

Mediaproxy to Show Upgrades to LogServer at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

Hitomi transforms production synchronisation with the lau...

Providing wide view timing visibility across the entire production chain...

25/03/2026

Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026

Continuing development drives advances in security, availability, access and connectivity...

25/03/2026

Caudalie Paris HQ elevates brand experience with INFiLED...

Caudalie, the renowned French cosmetics brand, has unveiled a state-of-the-art 200-seat auditorium at its new headquarters in the historic Marais district of ce...

25/03/2026

Telestream Unlocks Adobe-Centric Media Pipeline and Strea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced expanded integration with Adobe Premiere, Adobe Media Encoder (AME), and Frame.io, d...

25/03/2026

Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature Rich CV320 and...

Marshall Electronics is expanding its lineup of high-performance POV cameras designed for broadcast, live production and professional AV applications with the d...

25/03/2026

OOONA Achieves TPN Gold Star Shield - the Highest Level o...

OOONA, a global provider of professional management and production tools for the media localization industry, announced today that it has been awarded the TPN G...

25/03/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 2026 Atlanta Braves Home Opener

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: Appear

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

Deepfakes Vulnerable to AI Fingerprint Hacks, Study Finds

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

SipMX launches at NAB Show 2026 to democratize media orch...

SipRadius, specialists in secure, low-latency media transport, will drive innovation and interoperability still further with the launch of the SipMX Alliance at...

25/03/2026

QuickLink to Showcase StudioPro Video Production Ecosyste...

QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote contribution solutions, will showcase its award-winning StudioPro ecosystem at The 2...

25/03/2026

Alfalite returns to NAB Show alongside FOR-A showcasing L...

Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, will once again be present at NAB Show, the leading global event for the broadcast, media and entertain...

25/03/2026

First Time Exhibitor IPC Introduces One Link Keypanels fo...

PC, a leading provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 Show debut in Booth C 3341. The company will highlight the newly branded On...

25/03/2026

LTN showcases satellite-to-IP migration solutions for cha...

Open video transport network simplifies satellite transition with new partnerships and global reach as spectrum auction nears LTN will demonstrate how its purp...

25/03/2026

Leader to present full suite of advanced Test and Measure...

Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present the full range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix T&M solutions at the NAB Show, which takes pl...

25/03/2026

MNC Software Appoints Heartland Video Systems as North Am...

MNC Software, a global leader in network management and operational support systems tailored to the broadcast and media industry, today announced the appointmen...

25/03/2026

Samsung Launches Shoppable TV Experience with Amazon

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 2026 Atlanta Braves to Home Opener

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...