John Coltrane - Stellar Regions

This set is drawn from a February 15, 1967, recording session--one of John Coltrane's last days in the studio. The tapes had been in Alice Coltrane's care since the recording, and she gave titles to the pieces, overseeing their release on CD in 1995. All are previously unreleased with the exception of "Offering" which appeared on Expression. As on that release, there's evidence here that Coltrane's relentless musical search was drawing him ever further out. The performances are shorter, focused, with a magisterial lyricism seamlessly integrated with exclamatory shrieks and cries. There is an aching, though rough-hewn, beauty to Coltrane's playing on these tracks. With the exception of "Tranesonic" where he is on alto, he plays tenor sax throughout. His command of the instrument from the very bottom of the low register to the stratospheric heights of the altissimo is staggering--note in particular his "duet" with himself on "Sun Star" where he questions and answers with himself on the extreme ranges of the horn. There's a depth and wisdom to these recordings that only further extends the Coltrane legacy. --Michael Monhart Amazon.com

Thank you John

John Coltrane is crying through his saxophone on this album and sometimes it is that new born cry, your alive, you have arrived and all you do is cry -life is indeed beautiful but to deny it's painfulness, Mr. Coltrane wouldn't do that to us. He embraces these raw unspoken thoughts visualizations emotions observations that enhances a connectedness with my species -a sense of fate and hope and deep currents of uncertainty of eternity and restlessness. I feel the insecurity and the music holds us together closer and more naked than we would like. I can hear a primordial echo of my humanity in his vocalization, this album haunted me and yet inspired because after all I feel a deep sense of being with my fellow humans. The music on this album is simply mystical. I can not name it beyond that,because what I approach -when I lay down relaxed and meditate on this music, is not describable. To approach that which can not be. Was John struggling with his last days here? I thank him for this door that he opened. I shall always be grateful and return to it. December 10, 2008

Seraphic Light

My rating to this CD is between 3/4.Stellar Regions brings back the old memories and leaves me cold... Seraphic Light reminds me of Spiritual,Ole, Om Kulu se Mama and many others.In spite of his short career, he had more to offer musically, most importantly he was at his best when he partnered with Miles Davis. His music touches many hearts and influenced many young artists.
I will shortly be buying The Best of Mark-Almond, Blue Mitschell's Bantu Village & Cyrus Chestnut/Anita Baker. September 23, 2008

Stellar indeed... for the most part, anyway...

One of Coltrane's very last recordings - the group here is without Pharaoh Sanders, made up of Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Rashied Ali drumming. Pharaoh's exit adds a lot more restraint to the proceedings: in fact, there's virtually know insane honking - other than on "Configuration", which is pure chaos but still sounds excellent, mostly because of the drum solo. So those who thought Sanders ruined Coltrane's career might find they quite enjoy this. The music mostly has an almost reverent, mystical quality, even when he's just blowing like crazy, as on "Sun Star", which reaches a level of near religious fury. ("Sun Star" is, by the way, one of the man's greatest songs, and not just because of Trane - listen to the drums and piano!) You'll also note that the songs have been shortened considerably: the longest ("Seraphic Light", an amazing song with a minimal theme) is nine minutes, and the shortest (the title song) is three. Now I don't feel that everything on this album is as good as "Sun Star", "Seraphic Light", "Configuration" or the title song; "Offering" (also included on Expression) recycles the "A Love Supreme" opening and then launches into absolute meaninglessness, "Iris" is a middling piece of music, and as much as I like Jimmy Garrison his lengthy bass solo ("Jimmy's Mode") is barely audible and not terribly enlightening. Regardless of that, Stellar Regions is an often fascinating look at Coltrane's later music. November 17, 2007

another mindblower.

recorded 5 months before his death in 1967, but not released until 1995, this is another mindblowing impulse release of coltrane's super-sonic music. mr coltrane takes the idiom of jazz and makes it into an emotional language that's all his own. a pure poet of sound. intense and beautiful. his music is a blast of power that can be felt traveling through your entire body. my soul feels heightened when i listen to him speak through that saxophone the way he does on this album. "seraphic light," "stellar regions," "iris," and "offering" are particularly astonishing. "offering" has an insane outburst of aggressive passion about halfway through that's amongst the most breathtaking moments in all the jazz that i've heard. my head did just about explode having all that fire and fury blowing directly from my headphones into my ears. dangerous. i swear. anyway, don't miss this personal, extraordinary music. make way for it to become part of your life. April 12, 2007

Interesting stuff

This is one of Coltrane's last and greatest albums. Like many of Coltrane's later outings the music sounds very 'out there' and at the same time it sounds so direct and almost spiritual, to risk sounding vague and mystical. Coltranes purposeful and determined approach as well as his willingness to experiment make him, along with Sonny Rollins, one of the key figures of the era (and any era for that matter). This album also boasts some of Coltrane's most beautiful compositions like 'Sun Star' and the title track 'Stellar Regions'. Also there are some almost crazed, trance like moments as in 'Offering'. Coltrane was completely in his element throughout the 60's and on this recording it is also evident that this man was a visionary. January 7, 2006

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