Coltrane & Dolphy on the record
When Uncut magazine invited me to review the newly discovered tapes of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy at the Village Gate in the summer of 1961, which are released today on vinyl and CD, I went and dug out the 12 April, 1962 of issue of Down Beat. Its striking cover announced that the two musicians had given a joint interview defending themselves against the charge that what they were playing was “anti-jazz”. I was 15 years old when I bought this copy of the magazine and exhilarated by what I saw and read.
Down Beat, essentially a magazine of the jazz establishment, had given a platform to two revolutionaries. Interviewed by Don DeMichael, the publication’s editor, they provided long and fascinating responses to his questions, as you can see below. Their patience is exemplary. Much of what they had to say is as valuable today as it seemed 60 years ago.
The way the cover and the two inside spreads were designed somehow echoed the tone of the piece. Whoever “Roth” was, his charcoal portraits seemed to catch a quality of heroic iconoclasm, as did the extreme cropping of the photographic images (taken by Bill Abernathy of Chicago and the Stockholm-based Bengt H. Malmqvist, who later became Abba’s photographer) on the first inside page. The whole thing made an impression that has never faded.
* Evenings at the Village Gate by John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy is on the Impulse label. The September issue of Uncut is out now.
thebluemoment.com 
I’m having a Coltrane phase at the moment. I’ll put this on my list.
Much appreciated!
>
Is the record any good?
After a bit of digging ‘Roth’ looks to be George Roth. He illustrated for Downbeat and also jazz album covers particularly those on Mercury in the early 60’s.
Thanks Richard, wonderful to hear them talk.
I will look thru my (fairly extensive) collection of ‘Downbeat’ mags and try to find that. Prob is that it will lead to me looking through too many other Downbeats – in all of its many incarnations …
Ah wish I’d kept by old copies of Down Beat
Richard, have you cast your eye over the awful ‘revamped’ JazzTimes over the last few months? Would be very interested to get your take…
Thank you for another great review. I loved the 62 interview on downbeat you reproduced, how generous and clearly aware these giants are when talking of their music. Today we probably think of their music as they described it here, the world finally catching up after 60 years. Both Coltrane and Dolphy, alone and live at the village vanguard, have been a go-to personal source of joy and inspiration, so am very excited about this new record. The selection of tunes is perfect as a primer for those who don’t know and the inspiration of their musical creation shines through and through for the converted. Now let’s hope that, like both directions, this is hugely successful and curiosity for the magic of Dolphy follows…
The Coltrane/Dolphy group at the Village Gate was the same one that toured the UK a few months later in November 1961 (Jimmy Garrison yet to replace Reggie Workman) and which I saw at the Gaumont State Kilburn so it was really interesting to read the Down Beat piece which I had no knowledge of. The musicians are indeed very patient and deal with the silly issue of long solos so sensibly. At the time there was a huge furore in the music press about both Coltrane and Ornette Coleman (their work tended to be conflated), exemplified best I think in articles and letters in Jazz Journal. As for the Kilburn concert, yes, they played My Favourite Things for about 45 minutes and now we know it could have been a lot longer if it were not for the fact that Dizzy Gillespie was on the same bill! It was a great gig and I recall especially the astringent soloing of Dolphy and the strange honking instrument I learned was a bass clarinet.
Thank you, as ever, Richard….Great to re-read that interview…We are the same age…I never forget that…I was a Downbeat subscriber back in the early 60s and was so excited (almost an erotic excitement!) when the magazine arrived in the post…. And an immense Coltrane fan, of course. The new Village Vanguard release is still so fresh and life-enhancing. Did you read the excellent piece in The Oxford American that traced Trane’s style and energy to his childhood experience in gospel churches? That side of jazz is often neglected. The preacher man…. Manu Dibango spoke of that in an BBC ARENA film I made in 1989, “Le Paris Black”: his brief definition of jazz in those terms was and remains totally brilliant. I wonder if you ever saw that film….made in creative tandem with Frech jazz writer and former editor of “Jazz Magazine”, Gérald Arnaud. There is some fabulous jazz (and gospel) in that film.
got cd at hmv on release day, nice to not use the Internet. Still regret missing the quintet at Walthamstow way back in 1961 !
Look forward to reading your uncut review. Fascinating to hear trane playing soprano and Eric his bass clarinet on ‘impressions’.
Down Beat published a heavily edited version of this article in its 60th anniversary issue in July 1994. The full text of the article is reprinted in the book ‘Coltrane on Coltrane: the John Coltrane Interviews’ edited by Chris De Vito, which also includes an informal snapshot of Coltrane and Dolphy by way of contrast to the Down Beat cover artist’s rendition of “a pair of humourless, akmost sinister characters (especially Dolphy), lurking and vaguely menacing”.
These Guys are making the effort to keep growing as Artists 🎨 and I believe 🙏🏽 we benefit from this experience in 1961 and beyond the boundaries of our own Making, whether ethereal or the Physical Boundaries