The Lost Coltrane Tapes

xricci · December 11th, 2003, 08:53 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By Joseph Benzola

Impulse Records, in their continuing quest to find new John Coltrane material, have discovered presently unreleased tapes of Trane singing in the shower. The new 28-bit mastered 10-CD package, retailing at $129.99, will be titled "Out of this World and in the Shower with Coltrane". You can hear Trane sing "I'm Just a Gigolo" recorded live in the shower of the Paris Hilton. Catch Trane lamenting "What Kind of Fool Am I" in the shower of the Stuttgart Marriott.

Perhaps the most amazing find are the five CD's recorded in the showers of the Osaka Grand Hotel, Hakata Imperial Hotel, Kobe International Hotel and the Tokyo Prince Hotel. In Japan it seems Trane was infatuated with the Beatles "Revolver' album which had just been released. On these five CD's, Trane sings all of the Revolver material (The extended UK album, not the US Capitol version). There is a celestial 45 minute version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" sung in the Tokyo Prince Bathroom and a mammoth 90 minute "And Your Bird Can Sing" from both Kobe and Osaka.

There is an incredible ambient reverb throughout the recording. "NO...we did not doctor up these recordings with digital reverb", says Michael Cuscuna. "The shower stall and bathroom acts as a natural reverb plate. That is what gives the "otherworldly" quality to such songs as "Mona Lisa" from the Stockholm Holiday Inn and "Unforgettable" recorded in the Seattle Hilton (and an alternate take recorded in Trane's shower stall in Dix Hills)"

The beautiful packaging contains a 100 page book including the words, to all of the songs and a psychoacoustic history of the bathroom. Instead of the usual Impulse sticker contained on many of the 20-bit remastered reissues, Impulse is including a bar of soap imprinted with the Impulse logo and Trane's engraved face from "A Love Supreme" below that. "Yes...it is a real, pure, 100% natural glycerin bar of soap", states Cuscuna.

It must also be noted that many of these titles were recorded in the field by Rudy van Gelder. "That is the clincher...that is what gives this 10-CD set its sonic excellence. I believe that these are important recordings in the legacy of John Coltrane. Every Coltrane completist will want a copy" says Cuscuna.

Release date: June 1999

Several other bits of info on these sessions that I didnt mention that makes them an especially important find...

Near the end of the version of "and your bird can sing" the voice of pharoah sanders can clearly be heard saying "when you gonna get your black ass out of there so someone else here can use the damn shower?".

During "unforgettable", alice comes thru on tape saying "hey, you no-account mofo, singing better be the only thing that you're doin' in there!!!"

Saundra Hummer · December 11th, 2003, 09:51 AM

This coming out, and I have already spent my money on too many other things, JEEZE!!!! This must be fascinating!!!!

shawn·m · December 11th, 2003, 12:42 PM

Then there’s the end of “What A Fool I Am,” where a second voice is heard singing the final two notes. After years of silence, Rudy Van Gelder remembered Pharaoh Sanders was not in the shower with Coltrane, but that Trane later overdubbed the second voice. Personally, I think the mystery voice bares a striking resemblance to the sound a sweet potato pie makes shortly before its demise.

Bev Stapleton · December 11th, 2003, 12:48 PM

Think I'll wait for the expanded edition with all the alternate takes.

Philip · December 12th, 2003, 10:23 AM

It's a pity the Bird Lives website is inactive now...

xricci · December 12th, 2003, 10:52 AM

I used to archive the BIRD LIVES diatribes here...
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/opinions.htm

If you have trouble reading a page like this one...
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/birdlives/bl-44.htm

...add an underscore to the htm file name, like so...
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/birdlives/_bl-44.htm

Saundra Hummer · August 14th, 2005, 03:54 PM

Newly found recordings of John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk recorded live at Carnigie Hall have been found in the Library of Congress and are going to be broadcast for the first time on the 24th on SERIUS Radio a first time premiere and then afterwards they are to be released to the public, I believe Verve is the one who is selling it.

I posted all of the information on the Talk Jazz thread in jazz media, so check out that thread here on AAJ.

They say the sound is fantastic. I have to think it should be fascinating to hear.

I don't recall if I ever saw them play together or not, but I don't believe I did, as I would have remembered it, or one would think so. I've seen them both, John a lot, Monk only one time I believe, but he was more than memorable in his yellow satin embroidered Morrocan slippers, and play? Did he ever, and we, my friends and me were sitting right at his feet, which were in their dance, us just to his right at the foot of the two foot tall stage. It was a thrill when he ran the board.

What must this new finding of the Carnigie concert be like? It has to be terrific, wouldn't you think?

Lonson · August 14th, 2005, 04:16 PM

Sandra, it's coming out on Blue Note at the end of September, and the sound is amazing, the performance is awesome as well. . . . Going to be one historic release.

Saundra Hummer · August 14th, 2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonson

Sandra, it's coming out on Blue Note at the end of September, and the sound is amazing, the performance is awesome as well. . . . Going to be one historic release.

Thanks for the correction, I should have gone back and checked the article, seems I have it all wrong, other than the basic facts, poorly labeled, lost in the shuffle of the thousands of items in the library of Congress, newly found, etc.

Do the songs in this broadcast/recording run the gamet or are they their upbeat-uptempo tunes?

Anyway on the other article here in another thread, I typed in some links to this and other info about other artists, like Miles Davis's music in Malle's movie Lift to the Scaffold (Elevator to the Gallows) which they say is dark yet wonderful, the movie being re-released, etc., the Ramsey Lewis PBS series about Jazz, featuring the jazz greats and those new to the scene, etc.

bicho · August 15th, 2005, 02:42 AM

is it possible to get only the soap without the 10 cd´s and the 100 page booklet?

keep boppin´
marcel

Freek · August 15th, 2005, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bev Stapleton

Think I'll wait for the expanded edition with all the alternate takes.

I agree. His renditions of "Lover Come Back To Me" are all (six of them!) very different. You can hear the tune evolving, as Trane tries showering with the curtain open and closed for different acoustics and tries different shampoos for a change of mood. You can also hear the presence of Alice, sitting on the toilet in the same bathroom during one of the takes, having a profound impact on Trane's singing.

Historic recordings indeed!

Philip · August 16th, 2005, 12:15 PM

Not a hoax!

Scroll down for: “John Coltrane in Rudy Van Gelder's Studio."

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/b/d/bdk4/aop.htm

jazzcritic · August 16th, 2005, 12:45 PM

I imagine that Impulse and its various owners lost their copies of these unreleased Coltrane tracks ages ago.

December 11th, 2003, 08:53 AM	#1
xricci AAJ's Barrel Roller Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Lansdale, PA Posts: 10,427	The Lost Coltrane Tapes FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE By Joseph Benzola Impulse Records, in their continuing quest to find new John Coltrane material, have discovered presently unreleased tapes of Trane singing in the shower. The new 28-bit mastered 10-CD package, retailing at $129.99, will be titled "Out of this World and in the Shower with Coltrane". You can hear Trane sing "I'm Just a Gigolo" recorded live in the shower of the Paris Hilton. Catch Trane lamenting "What Kind of Fool Am I" in the shower of the Stuttgart Marriott. Perhaps the most amazing find are the five CD's recorded in the showers of the Osaka Grand Hotel, Hakata Imperial Hotel, Kobe International Hotel and the Tokyo Prince Hotel. In Japan it seems Trane was infatuated with the Beatles "Revolver' album which had just been released. On these five CD's, Trane sings all of the Revolver material (The extended UK album, not the US Capitol version). There is a celestial 45 minute version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" sung in the Tokyo Prince Bathroom and a mammoth 90 minute "And Your Bird Can Sing" from both Kobe and Osaka. There is an incredible ambient reverb throughout the recording. "NO...we did not doctor up these recordings with digital reverb", says Michael Cuscuna. "The shower stall and bathroom acts as a natural reverb plate. That is what gives the "otherworldly" quality to such songs as "Mona Lisa" from the Stockholm Holiday Inn and "Unforgettable" recorded in the Seattle Hilton (and an alternate take recorded in Trane's shower stall in Dix Hills)" The beautiful packaging contains a 100 page book including the words, to all of the songs and a psychoacoustic history of the bathroom. Instead of the usual Impulse sticker contained on many of the 20-bit remastered reissues, Impulse is including a bar of soap imprinted with the Impulse logo and Trane's engraved face from "A Love Supreme" below that. "Yes...it is a real, pure, 100% natural glycerin bar of soap", states Cuscuna. It must also be noted that many of these titles were recorded in the field by Rudy van Gelder. "That is the clincher...that is what gives this 10-CD set its sonic excellence. I believe that these are important recordings in the legacy of John Coltrane. Every Coltrane completist will want a copy" says Cuscuna. Release date: June 1999 Several other bits of info on these sessions that I didnt mention that makes them an especially important find... Near the end of the version of "and your bird can sing" the voice of pharoah sanders can clearly be heard saying "when you gonna get your black ass out of there so someone else here can use the damn shower?". During "unforgettable", alice comes thru on tape saying "hey, you no-account mofo, singing better be the only thing that you're doin' in there!!!"

December 11th, 2003, 09:51 AM	#2
Saundra Hummer Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: West Coast Posts: 15,060	This coming out, and I have already spent my money on too many other things, JEEZE!!!! This must be fascinating!!!! __________________ Sandi from Hermosa Beach

August 14th, 2005, 03:54 PM	#7
Saundra Hummer Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: West Coast Posts: 15,060	Newly found recordings of John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk recorded live at Carnigie Hall have been found in the Library of Congress and are going to be broadcast for the first time on the 24th on SERIUS Radio a first time premiere and then afterwards they are to be released to the public, I believe Verve is the one who is selling it. I posted all of the information on the Talk Jazz thread in jazz media, so check out that thread here on AAJ. They say the sound is fantastic. I have to think it should be fascinating to hear. I don't recall if I ever saw them play together or not, but I don't believe I did, as I would have remembered it, or one would think so. I've seen them both, John a lot, Monk only one time I believe, but he was more than memorable in his yellow satin embroidered Morrocan slippers, and play? Did he ever, and we, my friends and me were sitting right at his feet, which were in their dance, us just to his right at the foot of the two foot tall stage. It was a thrill when he ran the board. What must this new finding of the Carnigie concert be like? It has to be terrific, wouldn't you think? __________________ Sandi from Hermosa Beach

August 14th, 2005, 04:16 PM	#8
Lonson Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,589	Sandra, it's coming out on Blue Note at the end of September, and the sound is amazing, the performance is awesome as well. . . . Going to be one historic release. __________________ Hey, I speak for myself. For no one else. It's no one else's opinion here but mine. I'm behind it.

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December 11th, 2003, 12:42 PM	#3
shawn·m tulip or turnip? Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: woodinville, wa Posts: 1,842	Then there’s the end of “What A Fool I Am,” where a second voice is heard singing the final two notes. After years of silence, Rudy Van Gelder remembered Pharaoh Sanders was not in the shower with Coltrane, but that Trane later overdubbed the second voice. Personally, I think the mystery voice bares a striking resemblance to the sound a sweet potato pie makes shortly before its demise.

December 11th, 2003, 12:48 PM	#4
Bev Stapleton Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7,317	Think I'll wait for the expanded edition with all the alternate takes.

December 12th, 2003, 10:23 AM	#5
Philip Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Derbyshire, UK Posts: 87	It's a pity the Bird Lives website is inactive now...

December 12th, 2003, 10:52 AM	#6
xricci AAJ's Barrel Roller Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Lansdale, PA Posts: 10,427	I used to archive the BIRD LIVES diatribes here... http://www.allaboutjazz.com/opinions.htm If you have trouble reading a page like this one... http://www.allaboutjazz.com/birdlives/bl-44.htm ...add an underscore to the htm file name, like so... http://www.allaboutjazz.com/birdlives/_bl-44.htm

August 15th, 2005, 02:42 AM	#10
bicho Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: münster, germany Posts: 114	is it possible to get only the soap without the 10 cd´s and the 100 page booklet? keep boppin´ marcel

August 16th, 2005, 12:15 PM	#12
Philip Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Derbyshire, UK Posts: 87	Not a hoax! Scroll down for: “John Coltrane in Rudy Van Gelder's Studio." http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/b/d/bdk4/aop.htm

August 16th, 2005, 12:45 PM	#13
jazzcritic Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: In the basement with my jazz collection Posts: 6,523	I imagine that Impulse and its various owners lost their copies of these unreleased Coltrane tracks ages ago.