impulse records

Maggie speaks with Grammy-winning music historian, journalist, producer, and educator Ashley Kahn about Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones.
In 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York.  Coltrane’s Classic Quartet was not as fully established as it would soon become and there was a meteoric fifth member of Coltrane’s group those nights— visionary multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. Ninety minutes of never-before-heard music from this group were recently discovered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, offering a glimpse into a powerful musical partnership that ended much too soon. In addition to some well-known Coltrane material (“My Favorite Things”, “Impressions”, “Greensleeves”), there is a breathtaking feature for Dolphy’s bass clarinet on “When Lights Are Low” and the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane’s composition “Africa”, from the Africa/Brass album. This recording represents a very special moment in John Coltrane's journey—the summer of 1961—when his signature, ecstatic live sound, commonly associated his Classic Quartet of '62 to '65, was first maturing and when he was drawing inspiration from deep, African sources— and experimenting with the two-bass idea both in the studio (Olé) and on stage. This truly rare recording of "Africa" captures his expansive vision at the time.

Ashley Kahn is a Grammy-winning American music historian, journalist, producer, and professor. He teaches at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music, and has written books on two legendary recordings—Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane—as well as one book on a legendary record label: The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. He also co-authored the Carlos Santana autobiography The Universal Tone, and edited Rolling Stone: The Seventies, a 70-essay overview of that pivotal decade. His latest book is entitled George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters.

Source: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/evenings-at-the-village-gate-john-coltrane-impulse-records__14009

Source: https://www.impulserecords.com/#/

Source: https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/clive-davis-institute/1417614318


Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994.

Ambition can be a great thing in jazz  - emphasis on the "can."  We look at a mixed bag of releases experimenting with third stream music, Bach, and other elements.  The results, like the music itself, are mixed.   Still, our guess is that you haven't heard about at least one of these artists yet, and maybe not all four.  Jacques Loussier – PLAY BACH AT THE THEATRE CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES;  Sasha Berliner – ONYX;  Rolf & Joachim Kuhn – IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK; Mike Holober – DON’T LET GO.

Maggie LePique and Ashley Khan discuss this newly discovered live-recording of a performance of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme suite which has been called a revelation. Recorded at The Penthouse in Seattle on October 2, 1965, this recording transports the listener to a prime seat for piece of musical history. While not studio-quality audio, the power of the performance shines through. This version is also of the full suite and features an expanded band that includes the same Classic Quartet and Pharoah Sanders in his first official gig as part of Coltrane's group.

Ashley Kahn is a Grammy-winning American music historian, journalist, producer, and professor. He teaches at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music, and has written books on two legendary recordings—Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane—as well as one book on a legendary record label: The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. He also co-authored the Carlos Santana autobiography The Universal Tone, and edited Rolling Stone: The Seventies, a 70-essay overview of that pivotal decade. His latest book is George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters.

Source: https://www.johncoltrane.com

Source: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/10/07/coltranes-new-love-supreme/

Source: https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/ashley-kahn-meet-the-professor/

This episode is from an archive from the KPFK program Profiles adapted for podcast. 

Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994. 

Alice Coltrane’s ashram album Kirtan: Turiya Sings gets first release.

Michelle Coltrane joins Maggie to discuss her Mother's latest release from Impulse! Records Kirtan: Turiya Sings . After releasing the wondrous Transfiguration in 1978, documenting a live concert with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Reggie Workman, Alice Coltrane retreated from public life to serve as swamini in an ashram she founded in Agoura Hills, California. Though she resurfaced briefly at John Coltrane tribute concerts during the 1990s and released a final album, Translinear Light, in 2004, it was widely thought she had abandoned music for over two decades.

However, during that time, she was playing alone and with others for Sunday "kirtans" (services), and she occasionally recorded devotional chants for her followers. In 2017, Luaka Bop released The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda; its music was compiled from four privately pressed (and professionally recorded) cassettes. The first of these was 1982's Turiya Sings, and marked the first recording of her singing voice, accompanied by organ, strings, synths, and in places, minimal sound effects. Commercially unavailable, it has been streaming on YouTube for years. Kirtan: Turiya Sings, issued by Impulse!, presents that album in a startling new context. This rare mix -- unheard even by Ravi Coltrane until he was producing Translinear Light -- presents Alice's prayerful rendition of nine traditional Hindu chants called "bhajans," offered with only her Wurlitzer organ in support.

Source: https://www.allmusic.com/album/kirtan-turiya-sings-mw0003535709

Source: https://www.alicecoltrane.com

Source: http://www.impulserecords.com/artists

This episode is from an archive from the KPFK program Profiles adapted for podcast. 

Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994.