Ascension

Certainly no one has attempted anything like this again. The only comparable experiment prior to Ascension had been Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz of 1960. But Free Jazz had deliberately placed two quartets side-by-side and ordered the solos into a formal, structured framework that seemed to belie the project's self-conscious aim to challenge rigidity altogether. Coltrane's Ascension subverted even the precedent that Free Jazz had established.

Coltrane had, in less than a decade, transformed the jazz world's expectations of the possibilities of the tenor, even of the role of the solo per se. Now this troubled, intense man turned his attention to the possibilities of a larger group than he normally played in or led. Rather than creating a recognisable background for the musicians to express themselves, he de-contextualised and fragmented the orthodox syntactical elements of jazz, viz. tempo, rhythm and pulse, harmonic progressions and set "changes", keys and tonal centres, thus leaving the musicians to articulate their responses only to each other and not to the support that the syntax would have otherwise provided. There were certain rules, so to speak: built in to the work was a succession of solos, as well as a "juxtaposition of tonally centred ideas and atonal elements" (Archie Shepp's words in the liner notes). The solo opportunities were created to allow the musicians an unfettered dialogue with the ensemble.

The musicians were a mix of contemporary and established stars, such as Coltrane himself, Freddie Hubbard, Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, and emerging voices such as Marion Brown and Pharoah Sanders. Coltrane's leadership on such an unusual, unprecedented project was crucial. He alone possessed the vision and charisma necessary to push these artists to break the dichotomy between backing and solo. Individual and collective voice became one.

What's the music like? Sound, sound, sound, a vast enveloping texture of brass. Look out for Sanders' solo - it's unlike anything you've ever heard (unless you've been deep in the jungle). It might be useful to follow the order of the soloists: Coltrane (tenor sax), Dewey Johnson (trumpet), Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Archie Shepp (tenor sax), John Tchicai (alto sax), Marion Brown (alto sax).

And what's the experience like? Played loud, it'll do something for you that might approximate what it was like for the musicians. In the words of Marion Brown, "wildly exciting.

Yet as the amazon.co.uk reviewer pointed out correctly this work is both brilliant and flawed. Adding more info about the sessions is probably not necessary so I will comment on the effect it had on me after listening to it once, twice and finally many times. The first time I listened to it I was impressed but could not remember almost a single musical phrase, the second time I was disappointed by the musical chaos and gave up on the CD at least for a month... Until one day I gave it a few more listens and guess what, it was working. After having listened to it for quite some time I was at a point that I really appreciated what was being played here and begun to both admire and enjoy the music that ascension offered. Having both takes is great but I would suggest you first listened to only one take for quite a while and I would suggest take two for a starting point. So if you are looking for a record to really get into and already have some experience from listening to other free-jazz records, by all means, invest your money here. If you are looking for an easy listening in jazz try " A Love Supreme" (still needs some work to get into) or "Ballads" by the same artist and come back to this record later.