Africa/Brass cover

Africa/Brass

Released

A magical outlier in Coltrane’s discography, this 1961 date features ensembles of as many as 17 players, and arrangements (two basses! four French horns!) that are written to create mood and menace rather than big band slickness. The opening “Africa” is like the moment right before the tiger leaps out of the jungle at you, sustained for a quarter hour, and there’s nothing pastoral about what they do to the English folk tune “Greensleeves”; the album’s final track, “Blues Minor,” deploys the titular brass in a forceful but judicious manner. Mostly it’s a platform for Coltrane to wail, and he does.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Continuum cover

Continuum

Ray Drummond
E.S.T. Live in Gothenburg cover

E.S.T. Live in Gothenburg

Esbjörn Svensson Trio
Blythe Spirit cover

Blythe Spirit

Arthur Blythe
The Lost Chords cover

The Lost Chords

Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow, Billy Drummond
Extrapolation cover

Extrapolation

John McLaughlin
Return cover

Return

Bill O'Connell, Bill Connors, Lincoln Goines, Kim Plainfield
Round Trip cover

Round Trip

Bobby Watson, Open Form Trio
Shuffle and Deal cover

Shuffle and Deal

Eddie Henderson