Stellar Regions

Stellar Regions is a posthumous release by John Coltrane, drawn largely from tapes discovered in 1994 by the artist's wife, Alice Coltrane, who plays the piano on the session. Alice Coltrane is also responsible for the titles of the eight numbers featured on the album.

Stellar Regions
Studio album by
John Coltrane
ReleasedOctober 10, 1995
RecordedFebruary 15, 1967
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreFree Jazz
Length60:48
LabelImpulse!
IMP 169
ProducerBob Thiele
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[2]

The material on the album is not entirely previously unreleased: the same take of "Offering" was first issued on Coltrane's final studio album, Expression. Also, the track entitled "Stellar Regions" on this album is an early version of "Venus", first released in 1974 on the sax-drums duo album, Interstellar Space. Stellar Regions was recorded the week prior to the session that gave rise to that album, and features many similar note choices and runs; indeed, the "Venus" solo is also presaged here by portions of "Offering" and "Sun Star". The former song and also "Tranesonic" anticipate the fascination with polyrhythm and spare, duo arrangements that would dominate the Interstellar Space sessions. This is one of Coltrane's most accessible later albums: the numbers are brief and distinctly structured. But the fact that Coltrane did not title this material leaves in doubt how much of it he ultimately intended to release.

The album features Rashied Ali on drums and Jimmy Garrison on bass. Garrison's bass is often bowed, unusual for him. There are a couple of blues-based and atonal numbers as well.

Coltrane plays alto saxophone - something he did very rarely after 1946 - on both versions of "Tranesonic".

Track listing
  1. "Seraphic Light" – 8:57
  2. "Sun Star" – 6:08
  3. "Stellar Regions" – 3:34
  4. "Iris" – 3:53
  5. "Offering" – 8:22
  6. "Configuration" – 4:03
  7. "Jimmy's Mode" – 6:00
  8. "Tranesonic" – 4:17
  9. "Stellar Regions" [Alternate Take] – 4:40
  10. "Sun Star" [Alternate Take] – 8:05
  11. "Tranesonic" [Alternate Take] – 2:49

Personnel

References
  1. Yanow, Scott. Stellar Regions - John Coltrane at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  2. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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