Coalition (Remaster) Elvin Jones

• 1Shinjitu07:38
• 2Yesterdays10:57
• 35/4 Thing05:24
• 4Ural Stradania08:28
• 5Simone06:30
• Total Runtime38:57

Info for Coalition (Remaster)

A wonderful Elvin Jones session for Blue Note from 1970.On this one he deploys a double sax frontline of George Coleman and Frank Foster supported by Wilber Little on bass, Elvin on drums and the great Candido Camero on conga. Check out 5/4 Thing – as Leonard Feather puts it on the sleeve notes “A rhythmic circle of sound” and the Franck Foster classic “Simone”. Our favorite Elvin Jones album on Blue note, deep and spiritual.

„Drummer Elvin Jones' Blue Note sessions have long been underrated, partly because the label itself was declining during the era and also partly due to the rise of the avant-garde and fusion, which overshadowed Jones' passionate and advanced hard bop. In 1970, Elvin's band consisted of George Coleman and Frank Foster on tenors (Foster also plays bass clarinet on one number), bassist Wilbur Little, Candido on conga, and the drummer/leader. This was a particularly creative and often intense ensemble, attached to the hard bop tradition but always looking forward. On four group originals (including Coleman's "5/4 Thing") and "Yesterdays," the quintet generates a lot of heat, with the contrast between the tones of Coleman and Foster making this album (not yet reissued on CD) of particular interest.“ (Scott Yanow, AMG)

Elvin Jones, drums
George Coleman, tenor saxophone
Frank Foster, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Wilbur Little, bass
Candido Camero, conga, tambourine

Recorded July 17, 1970 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Produced by Francis Wolff

Digitally remastered

Elvin Jones
will always be best-known for his association with the classic John Coltrane Quartet (1960-65) but he has also had a notable career as a bandleader and has continued being a major influence during the past 30 years. One of the all-time great drummers (bridging the gap between advanced hard bop and the avant-garde), Elvin is the younger brother of a remarkable musical family that also includes Hank and Thad Jones. After spending time in the Army (1946-49), he was a part of the very fertile Detroit jazz scene of the early '50s. He moved to New York in 1955, worked with Teddy Charles and the Bud Powell Trio and recorded with Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins (the latter at his famous Village Vanguard session). After stints with J.J. Johnson (1956-57), Donald Byrd (1958), Tyree Glenn and Harry "Sweets" Edison, Elvin Jones became an important member of John Coltrane's Quartet, pushing the innovative saxophonist to remarkable heights and appearing on most of his best recordings. When Coltrane added Rashied Ali to his band in late 1965 as second drummer, Jones was not pleased and he soon departed.

He went on a European tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and then started leading his own groups which in the 1990s became known as Elvin Jones's Jazz Machine. Among his sidemen have been saxophonists Frank Foster, Joe Farrell, George Coleman, Pepper Adams, Dave Liebman, Pat LaBarbera, Steve Grossman, Andrew White, Ravi Coltrane and Sonny Fortune, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, pianists Dollar Brand and Willie Pickens, keyboardist Jan Hammer and bassists Richard Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Wilbur Little and Gene Perla among others. Elvin Jones has recorded as a leader for many labels including Atlantic, Riverside, Impulse, Blue Note, Enja, PM, Vanguard, Honey Dew, Denon, Storyville, Evidence and Landmark.

This album contains no booklet.