
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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...