Evenings at the Village Gate, rediscovered in the New York Public Library’s archives, recorded in months prior to saxophonist’s legendary Village Vanguard shows
A long-lost live recording featuring one of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy’s 1961 sets at New York’s Village Gate has been unearthed for release this summer.
Evenings at the Village Gate, out July 14 via Impulse! Records, was recorded in the summer before Coltrane’s legendary slate of Nov. 1961 dates at the Village Vanguard, with a similar quintet lineup: The short-lived tandem of Coltrane and Dolphy alongside drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Reggie Workman.
Ahead of the album’s release, Impulse! Records has shared the night’s “Impressions”:
While the trailblazing Village Vanguard shows have been endlessly reissued, nothing from the Village Gate residency has ever been released. However, according to NPR, a Bob Dylan archivist digging through the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ sound archives uncovered the recording, which was made by engineer Richard Alderson to test the sound system he installed for the club.
The five-song, 80-minute Evenings at the Village Gate features two songs that became a staple of the Village Vanguard shows — “Impressions” and “Greensleeves” — along with Coltrane’s signature take on “My Favorite Things” and “When Lights Are Low.” The album concludes with what’s believed to be the only live version of Coltrane’s “Africa,” the studio take of which featured on his Africa/Brass album that same year.
Evenings at the Village Gate, available to preorder now in a variety of formats, also includes liner notes about the residency along with essays by Workman, Alderson, Grammy-winning jazz writer Ashley Kahn, and saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin.