Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Coltrane: Interstellar Space
John Coltrane: Interstellar Space
ByAs Ali himself remembers, "If you listen... you can hear that something's going on and holding the whole thing together. I'm not playing regular time, but the feeling of regular time is there. I'm thinking in time."
First up is "Mars," a composition full of irregular rhythms and Coltrane's own expressionist playing. At over ten minutes, it can make for a fairly intense listen. If one could transcribe Jackson Pollock into music it might possibly resemble something such as this (maybe). "Venus" has a tender beginning before shortly wandering off into an utterly different reality altogether, as if Coltrane were attempting to explain the notions of string theory through his tenor saxophone.
The lesson in particle physics continues with our Professor demonstrating the theoretical framework of the cosmos on "Jupiter," before the listener receives yet another lecture in quantum mechanics with "Saturn." It's all pretty fascinating stuff really, provided one has the intellect to actually understand it.
Originally issued in 1974, some seven years after Coltrane's passing, Impulse! has included two bonus tracks, the seriously feverish "Leo" and "Jupiter Variations." Both the packaging and remastered sound are excellent as always, and if you're really keen, you can wind back from track one to hear several false starts.
In his final years, Coltrane divided both critics and admirers in equal measure. Mad professor, avant-garde prophet, or inspired innovator? Perhaps he was all of these and more. Just as 1959's Giant Steps marked a turning point between his past and what was soon to come, so too could Interstellar Space be regarded as the work of a restless spirit and musical maverick whose concept of cosmic contemplation was often light years ahead of many of his contemporaries.
Track Listing
Mars; Venus; Jupiter; Saturn; Leo; Jupiter variation.
Personnel
John Coltrane
saxophoneJohn Coltrane: tenor saxophone, bells; Rashied Ali: drums.
Album information
Title: Interstellar Space | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Impulse!