Description
John Coltrane – Sun Ship – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Vinyl Me, Please
Vinyl Me, Please Classics Record of the Month for July, 2022.
(AAA) Lacquers cut from the original tapes by Ryan Smith,Sterling Sound
Pressed on 180g black audiophile vinyl at RTI
Listening notes booklet by Marl Richardson
Heavyweight, tip-on gatefold jacket.
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic
John Coltrane’s Sun Ship (1971) is a powerful posthumous release that captures the raw energy and spiritual intensity of Coltrane’s classic quartet during one of their final recording sessions. Recorded in 1965 but not released until six years later, Sun Ship represents a significant period of Coltrane’s late-career evolution, as he continued to push the boundaries of free jazz and modal improvisation. This album is a cornerstone for understanding Coltrane’s deep exploration into the avant-garde, spiritual, and experimental aspects of jazz. Sun Ship was recorded on August 26, 1965, with Coltrane’s classic quartet.
This session came during a pivotal period for Coltrane. He had already released some of his most celebrated works, including A Love Supreme (1965), but was moving further into free jazz and avant-garde territory. Coltrane was increasingly influenced by spiritual and cosmic themes, seeking new ways to express profound emotions and ideas through his music.
Sun Ship captures this transitional period just before Coltrane’s quartet began to disband, as both McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones would leave the group soon after these recordings. Their contributions on this album represent the final stages of one of the most influential jazz ensembles in history.
Sun Ship is marked by intense improvisation, modal exploration, and a deep sense of spiritual searching. The album is more chaotic and free-form compared to Coltrane’s earlier, more structured works. It reflects Coltrane’s growing fascination with breaking away from traditional forms and harmonic structures. The playing is often atonal and frenzied, with Coltrane’s tenor saxophone soaring into uncharted territory. There’s an urgency and rawness to the music, as if Coltrane and his band are racing to express ideas that transcend conventional jazz language.
While the music is less melodic than earlier albums like A Love Supreme, it’s highly expressive, with emotional depth and spiritual fervor being conveyed through intense dynamics and harmonic dissonance.
Key Tracks
“Sun Ship”: The opening and title track immediately thrusts the listener into a world of frenetic energy and dense improvisation. Coltrane’s playing is fiery and impassioned, with the rest of the band matching his intensity. McCoy Tyner’s piano adds harmonic tension, while Elvin Jones’s drumming is explosive and relentless.
“Dearly Beloved”: This track features a slightly more melodic approach, with Coltrane exploring a meditative theme before launching into more abstract improvisation. There’s a sense of longing in the opening moments, but the piece gradually builds into a dynamic, free-flowing conversation between the musicians.
“Attaining”: One of the more spiritual pieces on the album, “Attaining” shifts between moments of tranquility and bursts of passionate intensity. Coltrane’s saxophone expresses a range of emotions, from searching introspection to wild, unrestrained freedom.
“Amen”: This track feels like a culmination of Coltrane’s spiritual journey. It starts with a sense of solemnity, with Coltrane exploring more restrained, prayer-like phrases before the intensity builds once again. The band’s interplay on this track is particularly tight, with Jimmy Garrison’s bass providing a grounding foundation amid the chaos.
“Ascent”: The album closes with this explosive track, which continues the high-energy, free jazz exploration. The title reflects the upward, spiritual trajectory of the music, as if Coltrane is striving toward a higher plane of existence. The piece ends on a climactic note, encapsulating the overall theme of transcendence.
While Sun Ship is an instrumental album, its spiritual undertones are unmistakable. Like much of Coltrane’s late-period work, the music on Sun Ship is infused with a sense of spiritual questing. Coltrane had already explored themes of divine love and inner peace in works like A Love Supreme, but here the journey feels more intense, turbulent, and otherworldly.
The title “Sun Ship” itself evokes cosmic and spiritual imagery, with the idea of a ship traveling toward the sun—a symbol of light, enlightenment, and transformation. The music reflects this journey, moving through moments of darkness, chaos, and ultimately, ascension. Coltrane’s interest in Eastern philosophy, mysticism, and spirituality is evident throughout the album, as he seeks to express emotions and ideas that go beyond the confines of traditional jazz forms.
John Coltrane (tenor saxophone): Coltrane’s playing on Sun Ship is raw, fiery, and deeply emotional. His tenor saxophone leads the charge, often pushing into atonal territory and breaking away from structured melodies. His improvisations are wild and free, reflecting both his technical mastery and spiritual depth.
McCoy Tyner (piano): Tyner’s piano provides a harmonic anchor amid the chaos. His modal comping and expansive chord voicings add a rich, textured layer to the music, though he sometimes steps back to allow Coltrane more space to explore.
Jimmy Garrison (bass): Garrison’s bass playing is both supportive and assertive. His steady, grounding presence is essential to holding the music together, especially when Coltrane and Jones reach their most intense moments. Garrison’s use of pedal points and drones reinforces the meditative quality of the music.
Elvin Jones (drums): Jones’s drumming is thunderous and volatile. His use of polyrhythms and his dynamic control are integral to the album’s sound. His interplay with Coltrane is especially explosive, as they push each other to new heights of improvisational intensity.
The album was engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, one of the most celebrated engineers in jazz. Van Gelder’s signature clarity and warmth are present on Sun Ship, though the recording is rougher and less polished than earlier sessions with Coltrane’s quartet. This works in favor of the album’s raw, visceral feel, allowing the music’s unfiltered energy to shine through.
Upon its release in 1971, Sun Ship was met with mixed reactions, largely because it was so avant-garde compared to Coltrane’s earlier, more accessible works. However, over time, it has gained recognition as a critical document of Coltrane’s evolution toward free jazz and spiritual expression. Today, Sun Ship is regarded as one of Coltrane’s most important albums, particularly for fans and scholars of his later work. It serves as a bridge between the more structured modal jazz of A Love Supreme and the completely free-form explorations of albums like Ascension (1966) and Interstellar Space (1974). Coltrane’s influence on avant-garde jazz, free jazz, and spiritual jazz is immense, and Sun Ship is an essential piece of this legacy.
Sun Ship stands as a powerful, avant-garde statement from John Coltrane and his classic quartet, capturing the group at a critical juncture in their evolution. The album is both intense and spiritual, showcasing Coltrane’s drive to push beyond conventional jazz boundaries in pursuit of deeper emotional and cosmic truths. For fans of Coltrane’s later work, Sun Ship is essential listening, offering a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the artistic heights Coltrane was reaching as he neared the end of his career.
Track Listing
Sun Ship
Dearly Beloved
Amen
Attaining
Ascent
