John Coltrane - First Meditations (for quartet)

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from Worldsrecords:

Not released initially until 1977, the music on this 1992 CD was the last recording made by the classic John Coltrane Quartet; other slightly later records found the group augmented by additional musicians. Four of the five movements on this release which are augmented by a lengthier second version of "Joy" would become part of the better known Meditations album along with another movement 2 months later when tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and drummer Rashied Ali temporarily made the group a sextet. Coltrane sticking here exclusively to tenor plays passionately, alternating ferocious explorations with more lyrical sections. Includes the full untouched version of "Joy" later replaced by "The Father And Son And The Holy Ghost".