JOHN COLTRANE — Transition (review)

JOHN COLTRANE — Transition album cover Album · 1970 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Abraxas
1965 saw the release of what can be considered John Coltrane’s magnum opus, A Love Supreme that is, reaching his peak both as a spiritual expressionist and a virtuoso and original/innovative jazz musician. Another significant album that year was Ascension, although I’m not fond of it, it's nonetheless an important album for both Coltrane and the free jazz genre. Besides a pair of other albums from that year, it was actually after Coltrane's death that we, fans, discovered that '65 was such a crucial and productive year for John. Impulse! started releasing albums from that year like newspapers, Sun Ship, First Meditations, Gleanings, Living Space, and there was Transition.

The latter is aptly titled, since it's not much different from A Love Supreme and contemporary works, where the freeness wasn't taking control of Trane's entire music, actually there's this majestic balance of spiritual climaxes and more down-to-earth post bop with extreme talent.

Like I usually say, Pharaoh Sanders and Alice Coltrane achieved what John, their predecessor, never did in an entire album, that is to play pure spiritual jazz ("hippie jazz") where peace and love are main themes, which is what John's musical life seems to always have desired but never quite did it. But it's in this case, Transition, where we find the composition 'Welcome', a rather short tune (in comparison with the rest), that highlights peacefulness rather than virtuosity or chaos. Both Tyner's sprawling piano and Trane's brief sax appearances are just sublime. It’s not of lesser interest to know that such an “unknown” tune by Trane was later covered by Santana.

That is already of big interest for Coltrane fans, but what might be of bigger interest is the 'Suite' of 21 minutes that dares to challenge A Love Supreme's awesomeness. The playing and interaction between members is in great shape like it has always been, and the different parts connect well with each other, indeed making one of John's most overlooked gems. As you should expect, you can hear a wide range of moods, from the soulful, the bluesy, the more chaotic and the rampant, with room for each member to show their unique style and their essential contributions to Coltrane’s music.

The last track, 'Vigil', is also very interesting, being a duo of Jones and Trane. 'Vigil' isn't as freaky and dissonant as one would expect, it's actually very digestible compared to the rageous and offensive duels that are in Interstellar Space which has Rashied Ali instead of Elvin Jones.

Lastly, there's the title track which is a typical 61-64 Trane composition, with the classic McCoy chords and the brilliant sax soloing.

Transition is undoubtedly a must-have for fans, not only it provides understanding of Coltrane's mind evolution, it's damn great in its entirety with top-notch material.
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