Featuring an all-star band of long-time collaborators led by
jazz legends Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano with pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist
Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart
Includes 24-page booklet of photos, essays by Grammy
Award-winning author Ashley Kahn and Resonance producer Zev Feldman, plus
interviews and statements by all the musicians
Recorded on June 22, 2007 at the legendary Clinton Recording
Studios in NYC for BBC Radio 3's program Jazz on 3, a Somethin' Else Production
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Coltranes
Passing on July 17, 1967
Resonance Records has released Dave Liebman / Joe Lovano - Compassion:
The Music of John Coltrane featuring pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist Ron
McClure and drummer Billy Hart. Recorded a decade ago at the legendary Clinton
Recording Studios in NYC for the BBC Radio 3 show Jazz on 3, produced by
Somethin' Else, the newly revealed session commemorates the semicentennial of
Coltrane's passing on July 17, 1967 with a seven-tune repertoire that covers
each significant creative stage of Coltrane's recorded legacy. Compassion is
Resonance's follow-up release to the acclaimed John Coltrane recording
Offering: Live at Temple University from 2014, which featured Grammy Award-
winning liner notes by Ashley Kahn.
It was in late June 2007 that NEA Jazz Master DaveLiebman
received a call from Robert Abel, the producer of BBC's popular radio program
"Something Else." Noting that July 17, 2007 marked the 40th
anniversary of John Coltrane's passing, Robert asked if he could bring in
Saxophone Summit, Liebman's outfit co-led with Grammy Award-winner Joe Lovano
and Ravi Coltrane, to record an all-Coltrane program for the show. With the
recording date just a few weeks away, Liebman managed to assemble regular
members Lovano, Phil Markowitz, andBilly Hart along with Ron McClure as a
substitute for the unavailable Cecil McBee. Recorded on June 22, 2007, almost
forty years to the day after John Coltrane's death, the quintet laid down 50+
fascinating minutes of music that showcases the breadth of John Coltrane
relatively short but momentous musical legacy. Now a decade later, Resonance is
proud to bring the recording to light.
To commemorate Coltrane's
semicentennial on Resonance, there are arguably no other musicians better
equipped for the job. The influence of John Coltrane on each member of the
quintet can not be overstated; as Billy Hart says in the liner notes,
"we're just all unbelievable Coltrane fans." He estimates that between
the five of them, the study of Coltrane's music has amounted to over 200 years
To celebrate the Coltrane anniversary, Liebman and Lovano
decided that for this particular session they would broaden their scope to
include music from all of Coltrane's musical periods, thus producing a
wide-ranging exploration that showcases six distinctive phases of his legacy.
"Each period represents such a different outlook and concept that it's
incredible to imagine that one man accomplished all of this in such a short period,"
says Liebman in the Compassion liner notes.
Compassion opens with "Locomotion," one of
Coltrane's many compositional twists on the blues that first made an appearance
on Blue Train (Coltrane's only Blue Note recording) in 1958.
"Locomotion" not only sets the stage for Compassion, but also served
as an integral jumping off point in Coltrane's musical development. As Lovano
states in the liner notes, many of the intervals heard on
"Locomotion" can be found in later Coltrane works - the main theme of
A Love Supreme being just one example.
Compassion moves forward with a ballad medley that includes
the harmonically rich "Central Park West," featuring Lovano and
" Dear Lord," which Liebman has referred to as "one of the most
amazing compositions in the world."
The inclusion of "Olé" signifies Coltrane's well-documented
interest in world music. A modal excursion with a Spanish tinged melody
(borrowed heavily from the Spanish folk song "El Vito"), "
Olé" served as a precursor to Trane's later explorations of other cultures
(tunes such as "India," "Dakur" and "Brasilia"
come to mind).
Named for Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., "Reverend
King" is a completely diatonic study in free time that features a rare
appearance of Liebman on flute, followed by "Equinox," which, like
the opening track, is another version of the blues. The album then comes to a
close with "Compassion," from which the recording gets its namesake,
brings us into Trane's late period (1965-1967) with the second movement of his
Meditations suite. "Subsequent song titles point toward Trane's intense
spiritual journey of this period - "Amen," "To Be" and many
more - all emphasizing the constant group interaction with little steady pulse
or direct harmonic progressions," says Liebman.
Available on June 16, 2017 as a Deluxe CD and digital
format, the CD package includes an exquisite digipak and 24-page liner note
booklet that includes photos by Chuck Stewart, Richard Conde, John Abbott,
Andrew Lepley, Vincent Soyez and more; exclusive interviews and statements by
Liebman, Lovano, Markowitz, McClure, and Hart, and essays by Resonance producer
Zev Feldman and Ashley Kahn. "For an archival production, this might be
the most recent recording Resonance has released to date, but we didn't want to
treat it any differently than our previous efforts," says Executive
Producer Zev Feldman. "I can think of no closer and devoted adherents to
the music and legacy of Coltrane than Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano and this
band." Feldman adds that within the booklet one can find a wealth of
knowledge from each musician as they shed light on the influence Trane had on
them and how his music still holds such influence fifty years since his
passing.
Says Billy Hart in closing: "I just think the world is
a better place when you hear Coltrane's music."
Track Listing:
1. Locomotion (6:11)
2. Central Park West/Dear Lord (8:07)
3. Olé (8:44)
4. Reverend King (5:20)
5. Equinox (6:39)
6. Compassion (17:18)
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