In the career of any artist, there are always many projects that are proposed, and many of these never happened. In this series I’ll share with you a few ideas that would have involved John Coltrane, but that never took place. Tom Wilson (1931-1978) was a visionary record producer
This is fascinating stuff! While I’m bummed this never happened, I can’t help but note the similarity in concept and instrumentation to Africa/Brass which also winds up with the theme of Coltrane (and in that case his quartet) placed in front of a band with a largely brass sound. I wonder if we got this album if Coltrane would go on to record Africa/Brass at all, or if it’d be wildly different from the way we know it. With the pianoless vibe of this suggested group, I’d imagine the album we could have gotten would have been a strange mix between Africa/Brass and The Avant Garde. I wonder if Coltrane and Don Cherry recording Bemsha Swing for that album is just a coincidence given the fact that it stands out so strongly being placed with what is otherwise exclusively Ornette’s repertoire. Maybe it was a reference to this failed project? I also wonder if Coltrane’s dental work that he had in ‘59 (if I remember correctly) could have been another factor in the cancellation of this project. Either way thanks for sharing this amazing stuff as always!
Thanks Michael! These are all useful thoughts. That's a very good point that Africa/Brass might have even grown out of Wilson's proposal--the French horn section gives it a very different sound, plus the piano, but your point still holds. I think I'll add that, and credit you. The Cherry session is a bit more of a stretch, but I see your point, that the idea of recording Monk without a piano might have been influenced by Wilson's proposal. Trane's teeth were always a problem, yet he was still very active throughout 1959 and 1960 recording and performing, so I'd say that was not a factor. THANKS!
Thank you for this! I love getting "in the weeds". I think this would've been a great album-I'm imagining Coltrane's rather "hard" tone against the more velvety softer tones of the brass. I love Gil Evans' things (who doesn't?) so this is tantalizing. Cheers.
Great piece. I found it interesting that Wilson proposed paying Benny Golson $125 per arrangement. And speaking of Miles and Gil, Gil told me that he was paid $75 per arrangement for Miles + 19 and Porgy and Bess, and no other royalties.
Hi Zan, yes it's important for people to know that an arrangement is by definition a work for hire, Never for royalties. It feels unfair to me because some arrangers like Gil really transform the original tune, but only the composer (Monk in this case) would get royalties. That's interesting that Gil got $75, less than what Wilson was hoping to offer Golson! THANKS!
Interesting instrumentation discussed here—reminds me of the unique band that Charles Mingus briefly used in the mid-to-late sixties, recorded and released on the "Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard... Played in its Entirety at UCLA" album. Essentially a modified brass quintet—3 trumpets (one often doubling on flügelhorn), french horn, tuba, and sometimes trombone was included or substituted—with the addition of a single saxophonist (the great Charles McPherson), underpinned by bass and drums, with Mingus sometimes playing piano, in which case the tubist filled the bass duties. Cool sound to my ears, and a configuration I wish had been explored more. Billy Strayhorn even wrote an arrangement of Lush Life for the band, which was unfortunately never recorded.
Didn't Sonny Rollins also do an album with brass? (Checks: ah, recorded July 11, 1958 for Metrojazz, tuba but no french horn, and with piano and guitar; Ernie Wilkins charts.) More conventional big band approach (if memory serves, and it doesn't always), so maybe not in the lineage you're sketching out here.
I think it's worth mentioning--I might add it and give you credit. The album Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass was produced by Leonard Feather, but the title is misleading because there are only four short big band tracks--the rest of the album is three trio numbers and one solo sax performance. THANK YOU PETER!
This is fascinating stuff! While I’m bummed this never happened, I can’t help but note the similarity in concept and instrumentation to Africa/Brass which also winds up with the theme of Coltrane (and in that case his quartet) placed in front of a band with a largely brass sound. I wonder if we got this album if Coltrane would go on to record Africa/Brass at all, or if it’d be wildly different from the way we know it. With the pianoless vibe of this suggested group, I’d imagine the album we could have gotten would have been a strange mix between Africa/Brass and The Avant Garde. I wonder if Coltrane and Don Cherry recording Bemsha Swing for that album is just a coincidence given the fact that it stands out so strongly being placed with what is otherwise exclusively Ornette’s repertoire. Maybe it was a reference to this failed project? I also wonder if Coltrane’s dental work that he had in ‘59 (if I remember correctly) could have been another factor in the cancellation of this project. Either way thanks for sharing this amazing stuff as always!
Thanks Michael! These are all useful thoughts. That's a very good point that Africa/Brass might have even grown out of Wilson's proposal--the French horn section gives it a very different sound, plus the piano, but your point still holds. I think I'll add that, and credit you. The Cherry session is a bit more of a stretch, but I see your point, that the idea of recording Monk without a piano might have been influenced by Wilson's proposal. Trane's teeth were always a problem, yet he was still very active throughout 1959 and 1960 recording and performing, so I'd say that was not a factor. THANKS!
Thank you! Fantastic! What a great way to start a day.
Thanks!
Thank you for this! I love getting "in the weeds". I think this would've been a great album-I'm imagining Coltrane's rather "hard" tone against the more velvety softer tones of the brass. I love Gil Evans' things (who doesn't?) so this is tantalizing. Cheers.
Absolutely--I'm sure the Miles albums with Gil Evans influenced Wilson in doing his Farmer album, and proposing the one with Trane. THANKS!
Great piece. I found it interesting that Wilson proposed paying Benny Golson $125 per arrangement. And speaking of Miles and Gil, Gil told me that he was paid $75 per arrangement for Miles + 19 and Porgy and Bess, and no other royalties.
Hi Zan, yes it's important for people to know that an arrangement is by definition a work for hire, Never for royalties. It feels unfair to me because some arrangers like Gil really transform the original tune, but only the composer (Monk in this case) would get royalties. That's interesting that Gil got $75, less than what Wilson was hoping to offer Golson! THANKS!
Interesting instrumentation discussed here—reminds me of the unique band that Charles Mingus briefly used in the mid-to-late sixties, recorded and released on the "Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard... Played in its Entirety at UCLA" album. Essentially a modified brass quintet—3 trumpets (one often doubling on flügelhorn), french horn, tuba, and sometimes trombone was included or substituted—with the addition of a single saxophonist (the great Charles McPherson), underpinned by bass and drums, with Mingus sometimes playing piano, in which case the tubist filled the bass duties. Cool sound to my ears, and a configuration I wish had been explored more. Billy Strayhorn even wrote an arrangement of Lush Life for the band, which was unfortunately never recorded.
Good point--yes, Howard Johnson played in that Mingus group. Didn't know Strayhorn wrote a chart for them. THANK YOU Theodore.
Didn't Sonny Rollins also do an album with brass? (Checks: ah, recorded July 11, 1958 for Metrojazz, tuba but no french horn, and with piano and guitar; Ernie Wilkins charts.) More conventional big band approach (if memory serves, and it doesn't always), so maybe not in the lineage you're sketching out here.
I think it's worth mentioning--I might add it and give you credit. The album Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass was produced by Leonard Feather, but the title is misleading because there are only four short big band tracks--the rest of the album is three trio numbers and one solo sax performance. THANK YOU PETER!