Offering: Live at Temple University cover

Offering: Live at Temple University

Recorded
Released

The music John Coltrane made between the beginning of 1965 and his death in July 1967 is some of the most unremitting jazz ever committed to tape. He might play a single piece for an hour, engaging in screaming duels with fellow tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, leaving his band — usually pianist Alice Coltrane, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Rashied Ali, plus guests — to offer support that it didn’t even seem he needed. This concert, from November 1966, features an expanded lineup. Garrison had left the group, and the relatively unknown Sonny Johnson is on bass, but the ensemble is augmented by four percussionists, including a Batá drummer, and two young alto saxophonists, who take one solo each. The endless rumble of the drums gives the music a ritualistic, primal quality that’s only strengthened when, during a 21-minute performance of “Leo,” Coltrane takes the horn out of his mouth and begins pounding his chest and roar-singing into the microphone. The quality is a little rough (it’s a mono recording made with a single microphone, so everyone but Coltrane is a blur in the background), but this is an explosive album, well worth hearing if you think you’re up for it.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
6 Peace cover

6 Peace

Schneider TM
What Exit cover

What Exit

Mark Feldman
A Quiet Corner in Time cover

A Quiet Corner in Time

Simon Fisher Turner, Edmund de Waal
Zilzal cover

Zilzal

Jason Kao Hwang, Ayman Fanous
Kaleidoscope And Collage cover

Kaleidoscope And Collage

Steve Lehman, Stephan Crump
Side Steps cover

Side Steps

John Coltrane
Journey in Satchidananda cover

Journey in Satchidananda

Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane
Features cover

Features

Schlippenbach Trio
Hairway to Steven cover

Hairway to Steven

Butthole Surfers
Ouch Evil Slow Hop cover

Ouch Evil Slow Hop

Sebastian "Seb" Rochford, Pamelia Kurstin