HOLY SHIT! Lost Impulse! era John Coltrane tapes discovered.

I think I have a bootleg DVD of some of that material. Pretty good.

supposedly there's also tapes of coltrane's appearance at the 1966 "titans of tenor" concert (philharmonic hall, nyc). coltrane, rashied ali, jimmy garrison, alice coltrane, pharoah sanders, and special guests albert and don ayler. you heard me: coltrane, the aylers, and pharoah in the same lineup.

sorry once again, no info on the stuff that this thread started with BUT:
2011 marks the 50th anniversary of Impulse Records. The label will kick off its year-long commemoration of this auspicious occasion with the release of First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection (April), which includes the first six albums Creed Taylor produced for the label as well as a disc of rarities.

The label’s search for rarities yielded a truly remarkable discovery: unheard and never before available performances by John Coltrane, the leading light of the Impulse Record label. The three tracks were originally recorded in a demo session exactly fifty years ago - sometime in early 1961 - for Africa/Brass, Coltrane’s groundbreaking debut album on Impulse Records, and present Coltrane soloing in the company of an all-star ensemble heavy on reeds and brass.

The session was produced and conducted by trumpeter and composer Cal Massey - a longtime friend of Coltrane’s - and had been in the possession of his son Zane Massey. The three performances include the standard “Laura” and two original compositions by Massey: “The Damned Don’t Cry” (later recorded at the Africa/Brass sessions) and “Nakatini Serenade” - a slower version than the one Coltrane recorded for Prestige in 1958.

When Creed Taylor launched Impulse Records in January 1961, the label was an immediate success, attracting the attention of Coltrane, whose contract to Atlantic Records was ending. Taylor offered ‘Trane the opportunity to record in whatever band format he chose, which ultimately resulted in the album Africa/Brass - his quartet augmented by an unusual combination of horn instruments, conducted by Eric Dolphy.

Though this demo recording was long-rumored to exist, it has not seen the light of day until now. Coltrane joined with Massey to assemble and record this rehearsal session in order to try out various ideas and arrangements. The resulting tape offers a revealing look at the care and planning that went into one of the most pivotal recording projects in Coltrane’s legendary career - his first big band project and his first for Impulse.

Thanks to the families of both Coltrane and Massey, these historic performances are now available to the world for the first time, exclusively on the 4-CD set First Impulse: The Creed Taylor Collection.

also in re: to the wes montgomery stuff posted many years ago:
John Coltrane Session 61-09-26 to 61-10-01:

Date: 26 September – 01 October 1961.

Place: San Francisco Jazz Workshop, CA.

Ensemble: John Coltrane Sextet: John Coltrane soprano sax, tenor sax, Eric Dolphy as bass clarinet, flute, McCoy Tyner piano, Wes Montgomery gtr, Reggie Workman bass, Elvin Jones drums,

Recording: Private audience tape.

Recording Engineer:

Alternative Issues:

Recent Available Issue:

1. Unknown set list (?:??) (Unissued.)

from here: http://www.kyushu-ns.ac.jp/~allan/Documents/JC_S_60-64.HTML

sooo maybe someday?

Wow. That'd be mind-blowing.

Still holding out for the 1966 "Titans Of Tenor" show (the Ayler brothers and Carlos Ward joined Trane & Pharoah) and the private recording of Trane messing around with a Varitone that supposedly exists.

are there examples of other dudes playing the varitone? don't know if i've heard what it sounds like.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gNUZoaRlL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

(not saxophone, but still)

wait, ok, here we go:
http://s.ecrater.com/stores/118695/4ae9dc2046770_118695n.jpg

haha, those covers are great. the new thing! check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ym0ndTmsk4
Recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Sept. 23, 1968

Personnel:
Sonny Stitt - Tenor Sax/Varitone
Don Patterson - Hammond B-3 Organ
Billy Butler - Guitar
Billy James - Drums

* The Varitone was an electric saxophone/devise
developed by H&A Selmer Inc., in 1965. In this 1968 recording Sonny Stitt makes use of the Varitone. It enabled a player to produce, among other effects, not merely his own sound, but the same sound an octave higher or lower. This "Octavizer" effect can be heard most clearly from 3:10 to 3:20.

tbh i can't really hear all that much diff in that song.

Wish I had sound at work...if I recall correctly, though, the effect is much more pronounced on the Terry record (as it should be, or the Varitone people would be pretty pissed).