John Coltrane/Archie Shepp
New Thing At Newport

John Coltrane/Archie Shepp - New Thing At Newport

Can music be influenced by your physical-mental state? Well, yes. In this hallucinatory and cavernous live performance, present are the two prominent figures of the '60s jazz avant-garde: John Coltrane and Archie Shepp, both top innovators and outstanding performers of the free jazz movement (obviously with no disregard to the "inventor" Ornette Coleman). In the concert recorded during the Newport Jazz Festival, we find a Coltrane in a decidedly shaken and very tested state, delivering a frantic yet at the same time primordial and soulful performance, unlike Archie Shepp who is in the peak of his artistic expression. The live performance shows us how the two artists may seem similar in concept but so different in application. Coltrane, with his impetuous charge and scintillating phrases, tackles the notes and dissects the musical themes as if he wanted to lay bare his pain, never seeking pauses that might soothe the listener's ear but continuing to assault with his screeching harmonics. The set by Shepp comes across as relaxed but with a strong abstract and hallucinatory vein, preferring the high notes much more than Coltrane and making the pauses and silent voids unsettling. Coltrane performs with the historic lineup: the great McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums (the king of polyrhythm), and Jimmy Garrison on double bass.

The set by Coltrane, relatively brief but very intense, opens with the speech by Father Sinnead O'Connor introducing the group, followed by "One Down, One Up". The presentation of the main theme, very lively, introduced with simplicity, precedes the long piano solo in which Tyner uses very complex and full chromatisms, accompanied by a lively and rhythmic double bass and by the complex rhythmic phrases of the drums; in his solo, Coltrane uses a form that characterizes his latest productions, namely the reprise of the theme with the addition of scales, continuous alternating exchanges between the high and low timbre of the sax thanks to the sub-harmonics, and long vibratos. The unstoppable glissandos and the fast sixteenth-note phrases make the atmosphere fiery and at times "off-key" (thanks also to  whistles and various noises produced with the instrument) but with great emotional impact.

In the second track "My Favorite Things", a piece by Rodgers and Hammerstein made a jazz classic precisely by Coltrane, we are immediately struck by an apparent sonic tranquility dictated by the piano and the splash of cymbals, which make everything very solemn and meditative; Coltrane is very immersed in the piece, almost as if the sax were an extension of his body. At times, the sound resembles almost a cry; noteworthy is how in this piece John plays entirely in the high range without ever disturbing the listener (something that happens when playing at these heights).

With Coltrane's set finished, his colleague Archie Shepp enters with: Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone (the third great innovator of jazz vibraphone), Barre Phillips on double bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. We immediately notice the stylistic differences of Shepp with Coltrane (still in some ways tied to the bop style); his sound and that of his band come across as heavily dreamlike, hypnotic, and at times noisy, and sometimes too delicate and difficult to hear; all of this to convey the drastic change in the jazz scene in those years.

"Le Matines des noire" is almost a lament and an imprecation for the situation of blacks in America, a topic very dear to Shepp, also famous for his Afrocentric stance. The sound of the vibraphone sets the atmosphere for the entire piece, and the very calm and never ostentatious sound instills deep meditation in the listener.

The last track of Shepp's set "Scag" has a dark and intriguing progression. Sudden phrases played in unison, fairly fast, break the slowness of the entire piece and abruptly close the record.

To conclude this work, it is a very important record as it maximally synthesizes the reality of jazz in the '60s, so heavily influenced by the avant-garde. Coltrane's set will obviously remain imprinted in the listener's mind for the explosive performance power, while Shepp's will strike for the calm but never banal vein, for the complete destruction of any pre-established jazz form, and for the variety of emotions it contains. Everyone will realize how Shepp was influenced by Coltrane, but at that time, all the jazz greats were in some way very close to the saxophonist's style. Record recommended to all fans of the last Coltrane, certainly tested by the events related to alcohol and heroin, but in my opinion, the most intense and spontaneous.