.... . ..

•
{<;•.
• а,
...

,/
' ..•
·
-~
.·
·•
.
f

David·Liebman
•

.
, [Link])
.

There ar~; several; щil:~~one· recotpings . . in the vзst · CQlpш1e :re~rtoire:· .

These·works stann·~ut' Ьecau.~e ~ey·· reere~·ent а suцнnation of а' s~.cific.
1

~ri:od ot, dё[Link];ent for · ·ще .g1;eat .saxdpnon,ist · w_:~o, ·--iit · ~is· 'two~' ,
d:[Link]..:pfu.s career, trav~tseЦ ·$e.x~[Link]-defined_. s1ages.'. :_E(ich :pe,riod·
., . 'o/as mark~d Ьу tlie compo~i~ion~, themSce~ve.~, ..ttieir ,·~arr,nonic: implica-..
· .·tiens esgec iaUy·, as . well as cert.~in ,sax·o·pho·n~:,andч.ens~rnble . tec:hniquess:· ' . . ~

The early:· y~ars·; roughlx 1955 througH ,-1959,{[Link] Ьistt~·riure with

'

?vfile.s J;)a·vi~.:a:nd f6r а ~[Link]:inoo,witЬ ·Th~loni~u.s Mor,_k,. :'Ui~$e ~ears-t~ea~

tured. ща,nу .date,_ s ·as sidernan,
..
~ [Link] le~der _фites цn<fe.r-fiis
' . ·:;
o~ n·name. , -•· ..· . .-•· -~- . ·• .. -·. . . _., .· _- ./ ,.,

· .. ~е ~p!rtoiri ,eopsiste<;t· painlx of· stщidзtds~ Ыuе$~ ~d orig,[Link];,- aD ...

__

·:{. .· .withiri. the ½'eU~a~firicd Ье1:юр idiom.&Col~e·'s app,foac~ • o/as ,_ цnique ·

., ,.,, eV~t1 .in. tl:ds inat½astngly. [Link] .щus~caJ·,eц·vцoф:[Link]... It w .as qo·mP;!ex; ',
1
.·~ hi.g\dr sophisticat~d eoncerning_the chor.d ·cbшtg~·s ~ .фе· s ~ ~ ..weti as:·
, , •.dexterity,. of ·rus~·'•ie4hro,que) antl"the, saxo..pt:ione sdund itse·.tf:"~The·~~G1ant .
' Steps!~·.· recording o~.:j\tt~tic (reeently:._~~J~:щti ~ \1/ith·.,. al~rnat~ takes~ ~ ·.
• . : / . : i ' . 'i~'" • • •

along ~ith neatly ~ doie.n:•:Odi~r tunes based Qц.th~t ~o~,1,1le~ harmonic pr(>·· .·.
gression, coiifd OO..CQП$1deriti"фe'· culpllii~tipn .and:а:рех Qf ttlat·fi_ rst S·tag~. ,
::(. • -~ • ' '. ' •:-i ,r. .; ,'' . . '' ~... .' ' ' "'

' в·eginn·ing with '~М] F~y,0rite Тlung.s ~·' ,щid the%~evebtцal fGrmation pf.~ ' .,'
• •• -,;· ,r: • .... ' ., • ,

· . ·а ste~dy and ep:щ.uing .~ up (Eivin·.Jbn~~,,~сеоу. ~yf:!e(,,,..and ]i~y · ·

: .:..G~&on), T,tan~ ' 'g. m~al [Link] l.~'f9 ~5) . found; its-~se~_ ai :re~_or:din~ · ·..
in А · f.».ve ~ueren:Je· (1_964)r,·: whic~, iц~l.~ded feur' co(Jlpфsitions .Iqo~ly· · ,: '"'·
..
held togeЩ~1" iбу а simpje:•:[Link];nrite mofif;
/ •·
.~onsiste:ot.
~·•..
penцitonic _ f ()щtН-' • . .,: .·•

·,. ,·. based ·voi~!pgs~ cЩ-oina·[Link],ari.d a-spiritual ui)derpinm~g~·: ~is .f~oцs ?• · .

. . · · . ;;,_;;

•and wjdbly ac·clщmed albцm· aiso maiked .Фе end о~, the quartet.:'-s·'Бasic . .,
. pr~mjS~S'~wfficn>wer~ stead.y at least. tЬ~ S~tnD~~~IOf,ia•,.iledat . ' .time::·~d 1

. ;pPint Qt:•[Link]~ han11oцy

~
as the foonda(i~n fbr m~~t-'Of-.. фeir,r~~ttoцe. ·. \f,... ·: • . _.:
:
The fre,n etic .·расе. of CoLtrane' s recotdings щ. 1965 ·r efl~~-the c~es he1- .
' ' _··: _.·. -•· -·~ . .• .• ' i·-. .·. .

·С ·,,' • .·.. _.; ·• 00 •.-,'· _.,.':;; -·у . '?·- ···•

.
-~--
.;-· ·' .•
-·•
.

. . -·• :. . _.;-· _.,... .;

__

t· _.; ·.·

:; -•·
• . . _.; ·•
.

.. -•··

..
167 .
';;;'
{
-·•

•.
 168 Coltran~'s Meditation$ Suite

felt wer:e necessary, first in the music and tfien .in the personn~l itself.
Therefore, the recordings of that year Ье~ witness te а change of сол­
серt -,а freer [Link] to all the aspects of his music.
It is in this year that Meditqtions was recgrded. ~theu'
,
gh First Medi-
tations ptecedes the sui~ UJ}~er analysis in this stud,y, the original ver.-
sion can Ье viewed as а prelude to the ful1-Ыown suite finalty recorded
а .

а few moп-ths later. Of. significance is that the full. suite· recorded No-
ct t,

v~mЬer 23, 1965', [Link]· the last [Link] record date for Ьoth Elvin and t,

МсСоу with Colttane:· (This does not include any p<>ssiЫe oootleg
• ct

recordings wblch may exist.) It also marks the firs.t appearance of drum"
mer Rasbied Ali and nearly the first session with saxop~onis! Pharo!111,
Sanders; Ьбth of whom would stay with Coltrane UQtil his deam ·ш 1967.
Although .some of the newer stylistic innovations developed during this
Iast period of Coltrane ( 1965-61) were present. in: subsequent recordings\
, ,. nowhere ахе they as ctearly presented and as _complet·e ·as in this suite.
Primarily this is due ·ts0 the structure of tЪе music, which gjves it-a u11ity
cf

and broanc:e equal to the intensity that stands our in the Coltrane 1egacy.

[Link]:L FORМ

One should Ьegi.n tЬе discussion ()f what mak:es Meditations so unique
with the nonmusicaJ., [Link] underpinning which pe1·1neates t.Ь~ suite.
Ал:уоnе familiar with Coltrane
i,.
's sincere pronouncemenI of [Link] self-awak:- t1~ .

ening~ so lucidly [Link] the liner notes to А ЬJve Suprenie, will no-, i., . i. t

tice how, [Link] the 1ast two years of his ·1ifе, almost evef'Y com~ition
• ..,-. ·:,_- cft

Ьоrе some sort o,f spiritUal "sigm,ficance ~ "the titles theQ1selves. Тhе ех"
amples are many: ''Dear Lord~'" •~Реасе EartЬ;~ ~'Joy,'' ~,'лscension," on 1

·'Dearly Вeloved.,"' ''Artren,•' ''Attaining,'~ ••ResoJцtion,~.. etc~Though it

·may seem pre~[Link] to s~u1~te on such а private ~atter Ot aitempt
to aeduce molives ·for this decided1y strong and obvious inplihati9n, the
five titles for the suite uцdeniaЫy po1tt;ay а [Link] ~ligious-quality: (1)
'

•
''The Fathe.r and The Son apd 11te Но1у Ghost'' (suggestinв, the Н~~-Х Тrщ..
'
ity); (2)t'Compassion"'; (3) 'iLove'' (the essential message of Ghiist); (4)
i.. i , 7,

''Consequenc~s''. (for 'those who don 't f911ow the path?); (5) ''Serenity''
'i,

{tlie eventual resting place?J. Тh~re are many interpretations wliich could
Ье made for these tittes, but ·when one hears' the music and considers the
possibi1ities, there can Ье. no'· doubt as to the direction th_at Colttane was
at least implying. .. ,. , : ·
B:ut it is not only tqe·[Link], ~rhaps programmatic, aspect which
k
unites the suit-e. The composi,tions theщselve& have ver.y aefiJ;[Link] musi• , i+ 1, f
ct t ct ct • i, 't t
t' . ., _.,._________ , , --~------ , ··--------- t·' t·' ct,
•
Coltrane.' s iUediiations Suife 169

cal in·tentions in Ьoth their outstanding sense of ly:ricism and ·how spe-
cific interva1s [Link] used to create the various moods. The question over-
ridiпg this analysis is: Were these melodies written down to -~ played
more or less literally~ or were they improvised? As с;эf this writing, 1 ат
лоt aware of w·hat exactly oceurred. but the strong hartnQnic undertones
suggest the fot 1ner scenario. (In а. discussion with МеСс;эу T~n~r in early
1996~ Tyner said that the basic [Link] were written out and they knew
the general melodic structure~ but most of the recording was freely
improvised.) However, what shades this view is that nowbere during the
perfor111anc-e does the piano ptay any direct hannony to Фе melodies,
although, to my ear. they are so clearly suggestive of chords. Тhis is what
for1ns, for me, the essential crux. of the suite. Ву and ]arge the melodies
are extremely Qiatonic, while the hannonies played Ьу the bass and Eiano
ate nontonal, as are the improvisations. .And herein lies the .genius of
Meditations-within the dense and dissonant overall color ot the recotd...
irig lies the most extreme and poetic lyricism. From the chaos of the ftr-
mament с'Э.!t1е perfect nature. In other wo·rds, the essential dichotQmy of
tension and release is not merel.y demonstrated as in any ~ea,t art but is
taken to an ev·en higheт leveI·of contras·t. Withid the most complex lies·
the. most simple.

М[Link] AND НАRМОNУ

Philosophy a:side, а quick glance at the inte·rvallic structures of the

themes and their lyrical shapes is most insttucti:ve.

''ТЬе Fatber and ТЬе son and ТЬе Holy Ghost''

Afte,r Ьeginning with soine muJtiphonic colors peculiar'

to the tenQr sax"
ophone centered aoout At, (all references will Ье concert key), tЬе first
movement launches into а complete expositi,on of•major triads Ьeginning
with the nfth as а pie:kup to the first, second, artd .third degree of the
. .

scales. For the most part, the ke.y centers theщs~Ives descend Ьу mщor
~ .
thirds, except·•for а few cycles of nfths as the transposed motif evolves.
The motif itself is unyielding and in its sbape preseпts what must Ье the
с learest exarnple of tonality and melody in all musics-the 1,2,3,5 of the
major key! То reitera_te, what f[lakes tbls simplistic melooy not appear
0

trite is the nonmatching bass and piano baпnonic aecompaniment as weU

as the flowing~ nonmetrical rnythrn '[Link] (s:ee Exampte 1). •
170 Col.t rane's Mediuшons. Suite

·· The Fatцer, the Son & th~.Holy Gbost

1'"."\ Trildic
• Over1ap
.......
"181:
.r,..
а-- -- ~ -- - - ♦ ,,

ль ►

- F

"

о о

'
D G

'

аь

"- 1
-- - ---
- ·
fl{o~: AJI cЬoni symЬols are tЬt author'i.

Example 1: Excerpt fro'm •The Father and the Son and the Holy 6liost''
•

''Compassion''
, ,

This isanotner example of ari interval tying the composition together. E~-
cept for ~casjonal ·ьalf-steps, f ourths, and whole steps, the minor third
~1 rneates tце piece. The etemal Ьlues motif, full of yeaming, unifies the
ttanspositions which, althoug·Ь МсСоу Tyner is freely c~mping ·harmon"
 Coltrane's Мedilalions Swte
•

Compassion

,.. Mel<>d:y
. ь* , . . "'е ' •
•

•
. '
'

1 1

•
. .
•

1то Solo$
'
. . J ' , .
' '

E~ample 2: Exctrpt from Compassion •

'
ica:lly, do occur over а D, centered bass 1ine,, set in а rolling -·З/4 meter. The
· use of octaves in the rec~pitulation after the solo gives а dramatic iinale
to this wonderful, haunting, and mysterious me\ody (see Example 2).

'

This piece тep.~esents the epitome of а diat,onic, step, half-step melody

wnicb is completely, .song-tike as .а [Link]. Тnougb it seems to Ье centered
around ал ~ tonality, the basic rising motif is transposed throughout ·
•

(Example З). What is remarkaЫe aЬoqt this sectipn is ftrs·t о( all tht:
length of th~ so-called mefody, wbich brings me back to pondering the
thought posed earlfer af:5out com~sed versus improvised·. It seems bere
that much of the latter part ef [Link] may Ье. spontaneous, especially
in light of the earlier recorded version of ''Love•• on First Meditaiions,.
 '

172 Coltrane 's ,HediюtiQns Suite

.
,

which is orily а fr(\gment of what appears fu1I-Ыown heret Also, Trane

lightens the tension dramatically in the middle Ьу what seё'ms а shift to
[Link] relative С mlnor Ьefore rebuilding .
to what f<;>r me. is the ·[Link] of
;. ~

the entire suite, the altissimo melodies centered around his А (Example
4). Fi11alty, the trills up ал(! down ~ major-seventh bring this dr·amatic
se,ction.,·the clirnax of the suite, to а close.

Love

Rubato
. /;\

.
Ад7ЬS
Г7;.З1

'

fд7
,

вь-' д7 , 1

) 1. 1 . ,

' . . ' <>

• Gд7 Ас,.1 '"
.,

Сад7Ъ5 .. Fд7 ВЬд7Ь5 ,

, . ,

G1Ь9

[Link] 3: Excerpt fro.m Love

 1
~ !' co·1trane's Meditations Suite 173
1 Э

,
t) ..... \ 1.

-
- -
-- -

..
' . .
, .

tJ
' ,,,,..,----

'
tJ
. .. f!. ь. .. .. • ·•
'
г
._ '!"- ~
.....
- .F а
,-
!
' fk.
f
!А-'11-
..... ..
а
•-h г
,.
,. ql: ~-....f- ·F'_
/1-
•

. ,

.. .. ; #~
tJ

~ ;: ......
,.... ,__
г
-
д

-,... .. г з,
•.--... ~-- t--
f-'
д
:,_i,
•
r-
.,_ .. --~
-.......r-' -....
. ' * ** .. ' ~
• • '
г

.;' i
--~ 12- .. ~ . 12-
r-,
t-
,.,...
!-- с
t-
t:
.
,.

'
.
- - · ......
~ F J=
с

'

tJ

-. • ,,

Example 4! Excerpt from. Love

''Con~quences''

This movement is simiiar to· other pieces from thi,s 1:ate period .in it n
Ьeing so much а melody· as а rhythmiG. motif which initiates а .te·i tutal
improvisation. 0ne cou.1d say that·' ''Consequen,ces'' represents .fhe щ,ost
elemental_of·stru~t,ure~ functioning pure;ly as _а ~~hic,l~ for the.. [Link].. '
.. .~~· . . r .. ,. ., • ~ • • - -. • .. ..- . • ~:__
 •

174 [Link] 's Meditationx Suite

Conseq uenc_es

/";"\
' а ~с. .. е ~nd
•
' ,-
• .~ ......

•
' '
\'
1

'

Example 5: Themes frotn Consequences

where The sole funciion of the '~head'' is to sugge•st а rhythm Щ)d t~xture"
In actuality. though~ even.''The Father and The Son and The Ъfoly Ghost''
fµn~tions. th1s way, alth0ugh there is а motivic melody in that section at
~he outset. This is one of the parameters of Coltrane ~ s last period, where
mel-odies . and ensuing improvisations are not necessarily d11ectly re]a;ted
(Example S).

''Serenity''

Finally, this ttanquil and Iyrical melody, based on what ap~ars· to Ье а

p~gian motif, moves aroun~ s~veral key centers in а V...1cycle wbe,n
anaJxzed purelf hщmonically. As in ~'The. Father,'' the accompaniment
is not [Link] linked, so it appears оп the sutfac~ that the melody
was not intended. to Ье tonally based. However, опсе again the point
' .

arises as to fiow clever,. was the juxt4position of а diatonic-baпnчnic

based щ·elody opposjte the nontonal, swirling backgtound._(Exatnple 6) .

RИУТНМ AND COLOR

'

Quite possiЫy, it was the personal dynamics .Ьetwee.n the' old and the
new wЬich gave tце rhytlun its essential cbaracter on Med(tatioras ..Leg-
end suggests that rhere was an inh,erent tension Ьetween Elvin Jones: and •
Rashied Ali. With [Link] approva.l of the leader, the new kid оп the Ыосk
(Rasbied) challeqges the cblef. Aftet а:11, it was apparent from many of
the 1965 recor<iщgs (which were not released contemporaneously) that
€oltrane was tieading towards an ~ .h ythnuc, nonsteady pulse in his lines,
as weJ1 as seemingly in the pia:no accompaniment. qne hears оп ~v:гran-
s ition'' and ''Sun Ship'' how Trane plays nonmetricaJly; yet E1vin still is •
•
eoltrane's MediJadons Suite 175

Serenity
~ , -~~ .. ~ -;---. .3 ~ . ~ ~ /~ ~ - - 3
. .

t)

'

iJЬ6
f:tt-1 ,
,,....
е

"А7

til .

..

Example 6: Excerpt ftom Serenity

in time . and mfact often marks off the 8- or 16-bar cycles, as was de
rigueur in tЬе quartet. As exciting as tbls k:ind of dialogue
•
was, it h_
a d _Ье-
come clear that а change in the rhythm section was. imminent. And in
fact, as [Link] earlier, Meditations was McCoy's and Jones's last studio
recording with Colttane.
What . Ali broцght to the music was а flowing, bubЫin.g feeling with-
out dramatic cadence p<)ints whicb ordinarily empnasize tension and
..
 ..
~ ~
'
~

176 . C:oltrane's ,'Meilitations Swte ,

~·
'*;
~·· .~· ./
~ •' ~· ~'+.t -~·•
~· .~·

release. In other words. the rhythm Ьесаmе seamles;- iп· а sense like ':.
~. i• ,·,

prose withoui puhctuation or paragraph matkings. Тhе, familiax: ups and

downs of Co1ttane 's music receded. Jnstead, there was usually а quick
ascent after the ope·ni~g statemertt, ratqet"than· the ,P<:aks'.~nd valleys of ..
the olaer forщat.: ·Seemingly, the song. forщ, (and Ьу [Link].n modal
f01·1ns) were pustied into the .background this period until the end trom
of .[Link] '. s life. . , ~-. ·, ·,
· But Jones was up to the [Link] neces·sary: )[Link] two fai{}y
. [Link] se,parafed [Link] [Link], .it is appЩnt that much of the сут..
bal fiuttering heard is Ali; whi:le tom-to~ are Jones..Ali also k.~ps а more"
or-less steady cymbal/snare' color throughout~ which does in essence com-
prise the major compone~t of h1s style,. The.Ьonom end of ihe droms ~ere
alway$ [Link]·tp Jories"s approach, es~iall~.the·characteristic, thun-
derous floortom~tom rolls neard so,much ,during,these last recorцings, of-
1 ten in cubato sections. Besi~es the 3/4 rhythin on ''Compassion,'' ~blch is
. typicai of Jones' s sryle, he ёоеs indeed play artiytlunic;and · [Link]ёal· . .

. [Link] по clear- cad~nrial mark-:0ff poin~ . .д;Iso, . his particular way of play-
ing of pla~ing"mallets is heard to great advantage in ooth ~'F~ther''
-~.
and
+·

,[Link]'' dщing . cymbal and tom-tom rolI~: . . · . .

. ·:·, F<>;[Link] Garrison; the late-period was re,·ally'a pe.q'e<;t gift. After all, ·
, one"of Ыs earliest associations has Ьееn ·with f:ree jazz-'pio~ee~ qmette ·
. Coleфan. · А l~ge part of•hi~ style was [Link]"suited' for а nenpulse con-
J •• cepi_.:·~ ~[Link] h.1s·quarter-note-walking 7feel fit like а glove wiф Iones' s .
i•• . _+ i- ' ii .+· i- -.i-· i-

' сущЬаl Ьe~t··over:. tn~ pr:eceding years, o_ne coulo ~ense 'ttщt tie"liked to
break ·~р. the . [Link] apd."play more freely [Link] ppssiЫe. In fact his.
normaJ]y ·ton·g rhap~odic ·solos punc~~ted Ьу fiamenco-,like-struпiriiing
seemed to sugges~ a'predil~ctjon for а 'щоrе ·abs~ct ipyфfuic c9ncept:
[Link] evident in 'Qarrisori '.s playing were,, bls simple. songlike melodies
.. i.. . i• t

sometimes heard in the background·but rnostclearl); in Meditatit;Jns dur- ·.

ing the solo introduction to :~Lo:ve.~'. ❖.• • , , • , ,. ... • ' •

The same could Ье said of МсСоу . Tyner, ,whose playing shii)~s ~ ,

.·:., ' brightly ().,П this last,recordihg.'':rtu,ough the yeal'S oi ac,companying·and •;
, ·soloing"Ьof:h,.ni~·han,nonic and'ihyt:hrtцc cpncep~ Ьац ~volved to.а ~int: .
. where Coltrane's·late mu~ic seemed natural ·to him for the·fqUo~ing ~- .
~ .

sons: ( I )' The, chromaticism of .his •fowth and [Link] YO!cings; (2.) the
"comple~ and
dense ihytЩns i.n the right-hand sol~:lines;· (З) фе gqu)diose'
, left~hand and bass ЙФfl-points wliich [Link] ·moved.: around matty
key centers; (4) the fluid and fast aJWggi°'s ц~ around фе b~i~'pulse; and
('5) the coottary,. motion of left hand descendiпg wfule ,pght band;ascend~, .
encompassing almost :the entire range (?t ihe keyЬoart:1; (.6) the somёtщle$·, .
.,
~f
~·

,• н./

.ic+
 *"
.i. \' '
.
Coltraпe's >Medikitions Suite, . ,. 177 '.·
' ~·•.~·

" droni~g right-hand tremoto og{)Osed Ьу left-hand bass n,qtes or chordal

movement~ and (7) the indeR;end~rit~ inner rhythmic ·con~e~ations·which
\,\,'OUld often ~ heard undeme~щ .the homs on top~All. феsе co~tribuied . J
. to а swirling, orchestral ~~conipaniцient i:,erfectly matched to фе late , . ,,
.

Co1trane ':1ens~ style; Alice Coltrane!s [Link] approach; hщi,[Link] and >
rubato orientation [Link] ~eplac.e Tyner' s style ·through the final record-
•
ings. But there can Ье no d~ubt that Tyner found. а way to enhance tbls
.: new music as he has done so un~ccaЫy fo.r the p~t уе~.• · ·, ·
~·

. Finally the matter of colot has to ·Ье "addrcssyd'~for with the additio,n · ·
. ,of another tenor sax·and drums, as well as. Ali, s adding· tamoorine ~·
and
tюt1s, the entire sound of the· gr;oup changed. Having Pharoah ·Sanders
•
pJaying alm0st ex,clusive1y in·. th~ [Link]щo register we11 ·as often eqi- i•
as ~·

ploying а buzzing kind of growl to bls no11nal sound and range, the sheer
[Link]'Jhe music ·grew Ьoth in !,iens1D1 and extremes of tessitura: '[Link].
·, wete .tong portions of the late rnusic· (es~cially in ~ive perfor1nance) ·~· ~· .*

where Ьo·th tenors вtayed simultaneously and quite .intensety,-1rane

. · Ьoth high and lo~ in,rao~d ftashes; S4,Пders rele1,1tlessly blgh·up; Tyner
~, ~, ' ..,. .. i

using the entire range of the giano; ·дii almost always OD cym~als and
snare;... ·1ones {reqhently [Link] tom-t0ms; GaпisQn "playing couцter .
.· melodies, in the ~ttom. Тhе color s~ctrum w~ in i~elf an upon . assault·
, . the sense~, especially
' . to, ilio$e who were used .t-o the: mor.e
. :" rrnditionat·, .
•
. quartet sound. . , ·: .,' .

'
· PERFORМAN€E ·' '
•
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I would like. to point out some,higblights ~.f the v'arious solos taken~ Af- ...
ter a·preliminary 'mчltiphon~c coloring o'n ФF tenqrs·; ,1'rane glays ~е tri- ··· ··.
adic melody to ,~~ather''•usщg а wide and lush vibrat0, as·was common
in the late period. Н~· makes exten$ive ·of а re~titive triplet figU(e
+· ~. . •.,.
use
.•. i.

,on one note, all over the :flutt~~g iionpulse drum~/oass ·acco,mpaoimen,t . .
and Tyner' s щ-peggios" Тпще' s . solo Ьegins·· with fast, :[Link] ·rims ...
~. . _+· .,

. , ~ventually landing in the altissimo, ending with а tec·hnique co_ПUt\on t~ .. , ·

. · ' the l~te: peripd improvi_sations, which is the impression of driets:wiщ . ·~ .:
:· ~!mselt:-rщ,id hi~h _ and \ow question/.ansWer phiЗSeS. FinaUy S~ei:s . '
enters•with his buzzing tone and ultra,high a1tissimo sluieks. W~th :rrane
· up higH,· a1so and the druuimers burning, _tЬе first,gre~t·· нeak,of intensity. , .
has Ьееn reached, fin~ly·s.1:1bs~ding with a·rec~\1i~lation of·the:· n1eJodJ
· and the same [Link] multip,honic from ·the б[Link]. of the move- + ,+· ' .• \' ♦ ,

me·n t. . • · · ·. j
 178
Coltrane's Medikltions Suite
.
Into а qцick segue, Elvin Ьegins the rolJing tom-tom oriented. 314
rhythm with ·Gamson 's bas~ [Link] while ·Тrале [Link] plays the minor-
:third melody-to ''[Link],;' again with а dramatic use of vibrato and
а very dark tone .. Tyner's solo is fu11 of over-the-pulse lines, ~quences
аnв ostinatos in the right hand along with thunderous Ыосk: chords to-
wards the end played right in the puJse (see Example 7). Goltrane's re-
capituiation, as mentio·ned earliery uses some dramatjc octave feaps апd l
t,

[Link] altissmo pJaying Ьefore endi:Пg with а pause Ьefote ·the next
movement. 1
•'
Garrison takes one of his typical bass solos as an intro to '"Love'' us- J
ing [Link] diatonic ~ggios and e1osely knit metodies in charaater with '

the coroing theme. Tyner' s ba·ckground to the melody is rhap·sodic·· and i

very scalar. a.lЬeit iц various and cfianging key centers. With а lot of tom- ,j
t.t
toms from,Jones,.and Ali 's cymba1, the balance Ьeblnd Trane stays fairly •

Solo ~xc~rpt

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AnJJysis: [Link] melodic s~: ncx [Link];t trln$p0$ition. ЬUt [Link] the basic: shape o.f downwatd IDOOOO.
$kip up, 4Pwn again.

Exarnple 7; Excerpt of Мс<;оу Tyner's solo in '•Coщpassion''. This excerpt is

taken from А Chror,шtic Approach. То Jazz Нагтопу and Melody"by David Lieb- ·
man, pubtished Ьу Advance Music, 1991 .
•
 Coltrane's Mtdil4Jions Suite 179
•
•f
consistent throughout. Toward the middle of the theme а sensitive mo- ;
1

ment occuFs as Trane quiets the whole band do·wn and Ьegins to. buiJd to r1
,
1
Фе climax of the щelody Ьefore resolving diatonically in AJ,, concluding l
-
with (apid pianissimo trills. lt should Ье noted that there are no solos in
.
1 this movement or in the final ''Serenity ."
''Consequences'' is ·the '[Link]'' of the suite, featuring at first Sanders
playing intensely, screaming and appearing to rip the hom apart. When
Trane joins. in, the two [Link] the intensity to an unЬeliev­
aЫe level along with Jones and Ali. The sheer physical energy here is
awesome in itself', щd its placement in' the [Link] is crucial to the entire
shape of the performance.
After а solo ex9ursion Ьу T~.ner, which sounds like а mini-twentieth-
. ..
,

century piano c1Jncerto in scope, intensity, an~ technique, the scene is set 1
•
for the benedictio-n -the Ь[Link]. yeamingt
.
and finally peaceful good-
,

Ьуе melod·y , 'f>Ser~nity, •t On the whole~ as far as intensity is concemed,

the form of the suite can Ье [Link] as an А-А-В-А-В shape. Тhе А sec-
tions are- the intense ''Father," ''·[Link],'' and ''Consequences,?' •

while В represents the more .peaceful ''Love'' and ''.Serenity.."' Тhere is

a1so a:n inter~sting key [Link] of fifths Ьetween ''Ьоvе~' (~), '~Coщ­
passioп1 • (D,) and~~serenity~' (О.) when ;these movements are viewed har-
monica11y.

PERSONAL VIEW

For те, every Coltrane [Link] the 1960s was an event~As I have writ. .
ten and said many time.s, s_eeing tbls group live was what inspired me di-
rectly to pursue jaz,z~ 1 awщted еасЬ new release anxiously to see what
'

to ехрес~ w·hen I would go to the clubs in New York, as I did so often. lt i

'
shoul·d Ье noted that the order of recording dates does pot necessarily re- i
t
flect the order of the actual releases at the tlme. In fact several of the 1965
5(Ц\ t0.{<6 recordings were releaseQ posthumously, possibly Ьесацsе' of the' enor" •

tu~(J, ~~ mous output or Trane' s reluctance to ro~e the music availaЫe. M-edi· · ·
(бr'\t\v s; "~ tatian.s came out after an album called ТЬе John Coltrane Quarter Plays,
~v l &-i>t"L.< ,._ for which itself followed the acclaimed А Love Supreme. On Quartet Plays,
t ~ е , t- .. . · .j the tune ''BraziJia~' gave an •inlcling as to the next smge of Trane· s evo...
1

·
1
~'1 ~ri ' lution" Besides the quartet Ьeing augmented Ьу bassist Art Davis, the
O

6 ~(a\}r se ~ perfo1·111ance .was very free in scope, and for me it was а big challenge to , . "'

Sanders ·....... •- ~ iiМi ;.,·.. •

 180 Coltrane's MeditQJions Suite

·record [Link] may have Ьееn stylis-tical1y dated, compared to what the
group was doiцg in live perfoпnances . 1· had щn Sanders а few times ,
with Coltrane, and his addition to the group mystified m~~ То hear
Coltrane aband~n eignt-bar phrases and steady-time on [Link]
cataclysinic for me.·,AJI 1 can say is that _hearing the gronp live was the
strongest niusic I have he:ard since, or up ·to that time-bar none.
As the· decades passed and my comprehension of the music itself in:-
creased Ьeyond the heavy spirinfal influence and direct [Link] ef-
fect it had U·pon те as з .yputh,., 1 felt that Trane 's [Link] has Ьеео Ьу
and large .ignored Ьу the audience and musicians alike. From the audi-
ence standpoint this w~ understandaЬle, Ьecause their expectation of
what Coltrane wouid play had Ьееn bui]t up ьу· so much repertoire from
the quartet during the preceding five years. Bu~ .l fe}t .[Link]эJly,
.,.
this
period should Ье more stuC,ied and analyzed Ьу m~sicians ..In the mid-
l 980s with the help of my wife, Caris Visentin, who pэinstaklngly tran~
scriЬed а.11 of tlie met~ies of Meditations, 1decided to. perfonn the suite
on each ·fifth
. [Link]~ ·of Coltrane's passing. As 1·wnte this article in
.. '
.
.
.
1995, I ha'Ye ,just ~rfoпned it several times iri Europe and New York~
Ьefitting the thirtieili·anniversary Qf the actual recording session.
The most [Link]. ritusical aspect of ·re~scovering tlus inspiring
[Link] [Link] that the m~lodies often suggest, to my ears, verj strong har-
monic implications~So in these perfo1111мces ,atound the world overthe-
years (and into the -.future l hope), ·r· . have added so·me chord ch3:I1g~$ to .
''Love'' and '"Serenity'' in particular, as weU as on occasion [Link] кey­
Ьoards and percussiori to co1or the . vшious' ·sectioris. , Also [Link]
;. ;

upon the petfortx,ance, 1 have aoded [Link], _synthesizer, .

percussion, and .
.

trumpet, as well as more homs. l,treat фе perfonnance of Medirations as ·

а spiritual event, а [Link] of Colt:raпe '.s musi€ and his [Link]· ef. . .
fect·upon me an~'so m-any musicians. Тhis deep piece of music sщds as
а mo·nument to John Coltrane 's v,ision of revelarion wbjch imbue& his.
late period and, in particular, the Meditations Suite~
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