The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is a box set credited to jazz musicianJohn Coltrane, issued posthumously in 1997 by Impulse Records, catalogue IMPD4-232. It collects the entirety of the recorded sets by the John Coltrane Quintet at the Village Vanguard in early November, 1961. Five selections had been issued during Coltrane's lifetime on the albums Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions. Additional tracks had been issued posthumously on the albums The Other Village Vanguard Tapes, and From the Original Master Tapes.
Background
It was the idea of new producer Bob Thiele to record Coltrane live over four nights in early November, Thiele meeting the saxophonist for the first time face-to-face at the club. This commenced a close working relationship between Thiele and Coltrane that would last for the rest of his time at Impulse, Thiele producing virtually every subsequent album. Thiele secured Coltrane's trust right away by not insisting he record his most popular song, "My Favorite Things", during these shows. Sound engineerRudy Van Gelder set up his equipment at a table by the stage, and for these concerts Coltrane would often enhance the Quintet by adding tampura, contrabassoon, oboe, or a second bass.
Content
Ten titles were performed over the course of the evenings: "Brasilia", "Chasin' the Trane", "Chasin' Another Trane", "Greensleeves", "Impressions", "India", "Miles' Mode", "Naima", "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise", and "Spiritual". Many were performed multiple times using varied line-ups and instrumentation, the core being the Quintet of Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, bassists Reggie Workman or Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. The authorship of "Miles' Mode", also known as "Red Planet", is in dispute, attributed to Dolphy rather than Coltrane. A single-disc sampler containing the five tracks released on Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions was issued on February 24, 1998, as Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes.
Track listing
Disc one and disc two track 1 recorded November 1, 1961; disc two tracks 2-5 and disc three tracks 1-3 recorded November 2, 1961; disc three tracks 4-6 and disc four tracks 1-3 recorded November 3, 1961; and disc four tracks 4-5 recorded November 5, 1961.
Disc one
Disc two
Disc three
Disc four
1998 ''Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes''
