Now this is definitely going to need more than one listen. One of yesterday's boot fair purchases was this 2009 re-release of Coltrane's 1966 work, a CD containing the original album release, and Coltrane's preferred cut, and after one run through, I can categorically say, it's not an easy listen.
It's a 40 minute long free piece, with two versions on this CD - the first being the original 1966 release, and the second Coltrane's preferred version, which was released a few months later. Frankly, I can't tell the difference. In classic jazz style, it meanders between solos (Marion Brown, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Coltrane on saxes, Freddie Hubbard and Dewey Johnson on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano) and whole band chaos.
Even after a couple of listenings, much of this is, to my untutored ear, formless and unstructured to the extent that it feels intended only to please the musician, and not the listener. Yet within, there is a certain beauty which makes it compelling, while not necessarily enjoyable. But I'm not sure whether it's genius or a racket. And perhaps leaving me guessing is the point. It certainly got me engaged and thinking. See for yourself.
3* - a lazily non-committal rating, but I hope it repays my perseverance.
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