Expression - review

Noted as the last recording (studio) of Coltranes life, 'Expression' is a continuation of the style of Jazz he had seemingly perfected on 'A Love Supreme'. The freeness of this album embraces you, and the abstract quality of the music is made all the more interesting with the gentle introduction of some relatively fresh instruments (piccolo and flute for example) to the expected mix of sax, piano, drums and bass.

I see nothing wrong with an artistic continuation of an idea, of a feeling, a vibe. You'll go to a gallery of a particular artists paintings for example, and see a set of paintings or photographs all by that one artist- and often, they'll be linked. Sometimes in a more obvious way, and sometimes it will take a certain eye and an appreciation for subtelty to pick out the patterns and common threads, but if it is a body of work, there will usually be some things that link the pieces together. In this way I find 'Expression' to be wonderfully linked to 'A Love Supreme' in that the spirit of the music is the same, even if this is much more raw in terms of the song-structure (there don't appear to be many if any recurring motifs or themes in the music, this is all just free-blowing, free-playing). This is Coltrane still exploring and playing with those same ideas, those same vibes, so perfectly encapsulated in that simple word, expression.

When I first heard the album I decided it was insane and nervous music. I had previously bought 'The Gentle Side of John Coltrane' and fell in love with the form, the accessible tunes, and (not too suprisingly) the gentleness of it. After putting this CD on once or twice a few years ago, I quickly put it away. As I had done with previous albums that I couldn't get into, but that I also 'couldn't get', I didn't judge it too harshly, despite thinking it was totally unlistenable at the time. I realised that I wasn't ready for jazz. But my lust for jazz music has returned in the last year or so, I have slowly begun to cast interested glances over at it, its illustrious history, its relationship with my music- hip-hop, and its undeniable abstract quality which one can only admire. I heard a tune by the gifted vocalist, the late great Leon Thomas, which encouraged me to listen to a few of his albums, and as a result, I then got into almost the entire back-catalogue of Pharoah Sanders albums (a young Pharoah appears on expression, and he took over Coltranes mantle of free-jazz pioneer after 'tranes death). I listened more to Miles Davis, bought more of his records and read his brilliant biography by Ian Carr, managing now to find great delight in his early work as well as his experimental/fusion period which was initially the more accessible for me. I got into it all. This summer then, I bought, and fell in love with 'A Love Supreme' and I knew I had finally 'got it', because I really did feel it. I began really getting inside this music, knowing where all this seemingly insane sound was coming from, appreciating what it really was, and what it really represented; expression, innovation, art. Noble things. Things to aspire to. Things that look forward and dare to tread in the sometimes ugly path of the unknown. The unknown scares us, that's why this music scared me when I first heard it. That's why I put the CD down and said "oh well" as I thought about the 8 dollars I had 'wasted'.

And so I shock myself. It's shocking to me that in between the first time I heard this CD, and this week when I've heard it again, that I can have two such different views on what is undeniably the same CD, the same pieces of music. It's a shock that I can now listen to these songs, and really feel them. I can honestly, and without pretention, describe them as 'other-worldly'. The music is literally unrecognizable in terms of my reactions to it now as opposed to the first time I heard it. We change. We do change. How can we be sure of anything when experience, life and time can teach us so much? What do we know? How can we all be so sure of what we like and dislike? All we are, if properly opened, is a few years away, a few phases and moments in life away, from understanding and enjoying absolutely anything. From feeling everything, finding meaning in, and appreciating things we may have previously cast-off as 'meaningless'. We must be open.

To hear John Coltranes solo on the third track, 'offering' is to hear ferocity; sounds that you never thought a saxophone- or any instrument, could make. His blowing almost begins to sound like a computer/synthesiser sound-effect from the 1980's, which gives this 1967 recording all the more mystery. I could talk on and on about specific moments on this album, in fact there's one playing right now that would bring out a sentence or three in my mind, but then I have to remember what John Coltrane reportedly said to someone about this album and it's lack of liner notes on the sleeve, "By this point I don't know what else can be said in words about what I'm doing. Let the music speak for itself."

It is beautiful. It may not sound beautiful, but it simply is. This black man made beautiful music. He was at peace with himself when he made this wild music. John Coltrane was a beautiful person and you know what? For this album, which so wonderfully represents what he was about- his whole mind-numbing style of ferociously passionate playing, and for everything else that he did- I love him. I really do feel love for John Coltrane. May God bestow His peace onto him.

"I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good." - John Coltrane, 1926-1967.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 25 Dec 2004