Wise One
by ChrisAugust 31st, 2005 11:59 pm
Most of us probably have a special piece of music or a song that we listen to when we are dealing with a loss. The experience is powerful in that it can bring raw emotion to the surface and fluid to the tear ducts in ways that hours of discussion and contemplation often cannot.
For obvious reasons, I’ve decided to share one of those very special tunes from my own life with you. The tune is Wise One which was written by John Coltrane and recorded by the John Coltrane Quartet on April 27, 1964. The band features John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums.
I won’t get too far into what to listen for, because I think the right place to start is with the raw emotion and the introspection expressed so clearly by both Tyner and Coltrane. One interesting feature is the unusual timing of the climax in Coltrane’s solo in that it occurs within the first third of the solo, thus ignoring the golden mean. Strange as it may seem, that ratio did have a great deal of influence on the construction of his solos.
There has been a good deal of speculation that Wise One was written to commemorate Eric Dolphy’s death in 1964. This is not borne out by the fact that Dolphy died one month after the song was recorded. It does indeed feel like a lament for loved ones lost, so that speculation is probably based in good listening, rather than just poor chronology.
If you like what you hear, please consider buying the CD. The album is named Crescent and is, in my mind, one of the finest recordings ever published.
Click here to play or download.
