many listeners will be put off by the low sound quality of this live concert, but i love it. i think it adds to the raw and fiery performance. i like the fact that drums are beaten so loudly that the sound levels go up a little bit into the red, or when Coltrane's playing soars to the shrieking side of the spectrum, you can almost feel the building shaking. personally, i think this is Coltrane's most important live record ever made. not just because it is the final concert, but because it shows his spirit of exploration and search for a musical truth were values that he never let go of. that fact, and his absolutely stunning and passionate playing on this record are life-affirming confirmation of the stamina and personal triumph of John Coltrane.

John Coltrane understands what music is all about...a completely transcendental experience. There are a few musicians who transcend the genre for which they have been labeled. One such master is the Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan. His music reaches depths so profound that it cannot fit into the genre of Indian Classical music, but is pure soul expression. Another is a classic recording by the Aluthur Brothers, who are Carnatic classical singers from South India. Their rendition of raga Todi is dumbfounding and earth shaking. I have been studying and listening to Indian Classical music for the past 10 years or so. I thought that only Indian music had such transcendental potential...Until I recently heard John Coltrane's Olatunji concert. This is not jazz...it defies genre...it smashes through material boundaries like I thought only classical music from India could. It is not surprising, since John Coltrane was highly inspired by Indian classical music.
When I first heard this concert, I actually broke out in a sweat. It was quite a workout. I was in awe...Speechless...shaking...again, only a few rare Indian concerts have affected me so.
Then, I was thinking how appropriate this was as Coltrane's last concert. It was a pinnacle in the history of music...any jazz musician can only merely try to attempt to reach Coltrane's summit, just as it is rare to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Any music, especially jazz, that comes after this recording is like a watered-down attempt. 'Free jazz' only tries to do what Coltrane has achieved. Then, I laugh at many modern 'jazz' artists like Kenny G. He is skipping around through the tulips, while Coltrane is striking lightning bolts from the top of Mount Everest.
Coltrane understands like few ever have.

"The Olatunji Concert" is one of the last known recordings of John Coltrane, made three months before he died. Peformed at Harlem's Olatunji Center in the spring of 1967, it finds the late Coltrane quintet (the leader on tenor and soprano, Pharoah Sanders on tenor, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, Rashied Ali on drums) augmented by percussion (Alige DeWitt on bata and possibly percussionist Jumma Santos) for the show. Before going any further-- this is Coltrane's late period, it should be expected that it is not going to sound anything like the Classic Quartet stuff. Melody and rhythm are far less important than emotion, mood, and power. And it is all of those things.

The performance consists of two songs, each around 30 minutes, "Ogunde", a variation on a traditional piece and Coltrane standard "My Favorite Things". "Ogunde" starts with a delicate, bluesy theme statement before really cutting loose-- Trane takes a brief and fierce solo then turning the preceedings over to Sanders (who performs energetically while being pushed by Ali) and Alice (whose solo is somewhat reminiscent of early Cecil Taylor and is totally absorbed into the piece) before restating the theme and beginning his own extended, exploratory solo. It's Ali who steals the show on the piece though, his fantastic accompaniment encourages and brings home as necessary. Of particular note is when Coltrane begins stating the theme after Alice's monsterous solo, Ali sort of resets the energy with a simple, aggressive rolled figure that really gets Trane freewheeling on his solo.

"My Favorite Things" opens with an extended bass solo, as was tradition by this point. Garrison is particularly lyrical in this performance, experimenting with dynamics, tempo, and mood before fading out to allow Coltrane's theme statement on soprano. Coltrane twists and turns, performing in synthesis of dozens of genres and styles.

The package includes an essay by David Wild about the show's history and with details about the performance and an interview with recording engineer Bernard Drayton. Drayton mentions cutting one of the mics off early in the performance-- sonic evidence indicates its about six minutes into "Ogunde", where suddenly the volume picks up and the balance drastically increases. Prior to that, piano and bass were nearly inaudible, although during fiercer moments, the piano is still subsumed under the drums. Add to that Coltrane tenor sometimes distorting (particularly at the end of "Ogunde" and the beginning of "My Favorite Things") and the whole set becomes a frustrating listen.

The truth is, with the sound quality as degraded as it is, it's hard to rate this much higher than I did, but even on equal sonic footing, I find the performances in Japan better. Still, for the converted, this is a worthwhile recording.