Coalition - Elvin Jones

Aug

29

Coalition - Elvin Jones

≡ Category: 1970s, Essential, Music Reviews, Post Bop |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

Coalition has similar instrumentation to Elvin’s previous date, Poly-Currents, but the two recordings could not be more different. Whereas Poly-Currents was introspective, Coalition tends toward the exuberant.

Coalition starts off with one of Keiko Jones’ (Elvin’s wife) sing-songy themes, this time utilizing a Japanese sounding mode. Wilbur Little’s bass does not keep strict time but maintains the pulse and the mode over the solo sections. Frank Foster is first up on alto clarinet, sticking to a bebop style. George Coleman on tenor sax approaches the tune completely differently, first referencing the Japanese sounding theme before launching into wails and shrieks in between arpeggiations of the pentatonic scale. While percussionist Candido Camero maintains the pulse on congas, Elvin rips into a explosive polyrhythmic drum solo before the whole band bashes away at the main theme to end the tune.

Yesterdays, a lesser known standard, is treated to an elaborate arrangement by Frank Foster. After Foster’s unaccompanied tenor sax, George Coleman and Foster chase each other around on the head. Sometimes one will echo the other like a canon, sometimes they’ll harmonize in thirds, yet other times, Coleman will play a linear harmonization behind Foster. Behind them, Wilbur Little plays a double stopped rhythm on the first part of the theme, briefly going into a swing time walk before echoing Coleman’s linear lines. For the solos, Little sticks to swing time. What’s really interesting is how Elvin Jones breaks into double time. Little doesn’t follow him for a while, and the tension created is really interesting. Finally, Little follows Elvin into double time and Frank Foster’s solo builds in intensity. Little and Elvin follow the same pattern for George Coleman’s solo. It’s a beautiful reading of the tune.

George Coleman contributes the next song, 5/4 Thing, which is a blues in which the melody consists of a series of dancelike intervals. It’s interesting how natural the 5/4 time feels for this band. Part of the explanation for that is that Elvin’s playing always feels a little off kilter to begin with, and I mean that in a good way. Once again, Elvin reverses the usual relationship with a percussionist to take a solo while Candido Camero maintains the pulse.

I don’t know quite what to make of Ural Stradania. There is a lengthy rubato theme with the melodic line essayed by Frank Foster and George Coleman. Sometimes the horn players are in unison, sometimes apart by 5ths, sometimes by 3rds. From the tune title, I would guess that the melody is taken from Eastern European folk sources, but that’s just a guess. After the theme, Wilbur Little plays a rhythmic ostinato for the solos, with Foster and Coleman following a similar strategy of alternating blues-oriented and intervallically based improvisation.

The date closes with Simone, a minor blues waltz in which the melody is first played naked by Foster and then harmonized by Coleman. Foster and Coleman contribute their usual fiery solos, but the standout on this tune is Wilbur Little, who has a wonderfully melodic and swinging bass solo in which he uses double stops liberally.

So, how to sum up Coalition? A wide variety of quality tunes, beautifully arranged, with a kickass rhythm section and blistering solos. What more could you ask for?

Unfortunately, Coalition has not been reissued on CD, except for as part of Mosaic’s box set of Elvin Jones’ Blue Note years, which is out of print. My advice is to make every effort to track down the Mosaic label box set. Most of Elvin’s work from that period is essential, anyway, and what isn’t is still damned good.

If you can’t get hold of the Mosaic boxed set, it would still be worthwhile to grab a vinyl copy if you can find it and make a digital copy for your cd player. (See my posts Why You STILL Need To Own A Record Player and Taking Care Of Your Old LP’s - Transferring To CD .