One Down, One Up: Live At The Half Note, John Coltrane

John Coltrane and his legendary band – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – regularly played at downtown New York’s Half Note in the mid 1960s.  The group used the club’s flexible set times to accommodate Coltrane’s musical suites and far-reaching improvisations.  As Half Note founder Mike Canterino said, “I just wanted the music and to let the guys go ahead and do what they want to do.” 

The importance of these influential performances has grown throughout the years as musicians – especially saxophone players – passed around bootleg and lo-fi copies taken from the 1965 radio broadcast. It was a time when Coltrane was pushing his musical boundaries, and one can hear the evolution of his style on these recordings.  As his son Ravi Coltrane says, “You can hear everything that came before and begin to hear where the music was going.”

The music captured on One Down, One Up: Live At The Half Note features the songs “One Down, One Up” (perhaps the highlight of the collection), “Afro Blue,” “Song of Praise,” and “My Favorite Things.”  The unparalleled performances showcase a band filled with fiery passion and a master at the crossroads of his musical path.

One Down, One Up: Live At The Half Note features liner notes from journalist and author Ashley Kahn who wrote A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album as well as the upcoming The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records. Also included is an essay by the CD’s producer, Ravi Coltrane.