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It might not seem like much: 30 minutes, three tunes, four musicians on a bare-bones soundstage. But this is John Coltrane, and any opportunity to see the legendary saxophonist at work is something to be savored. That's especially true with this January 1964 television performance. Some five years after his membership in Miles Davis's immortal Kind of Blue group, he was well past playing the usual standards and ballads; at the same time, he had yet to explore the outer reaches of the avant-garde. Joined here by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones--the classic Coltrane quartet, and undoubtedly one of the most important and influential groups in jazz history--he works his way through three numbers that were familiar components of the Coltrane repertoire: Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue," which finds Trane on soprano sax and features a typically dynamic Tyner solo; "Alabama," a Coltrane original with a brooding, droning intro and conclusion sandwiched around the middle section's slow, swinging groove; and "Impressions," the modal touchstone, which at nearly 14 minutes long gives all four musicians plenty of room to stretch out. Playing the tenor horn here, Coltrane is typically restless and searching, volcanic and commanding. It's not necessarily pretty, especially when he is backed only by Jones's angry, explosive polyrhythms, but the power is undeniable. The fact that Coltrane says nothing (all other Jazz Casual guests were interviewed by host Ralph J. Gleason) is immaterial; what could he say with his voice that he hadn't already said with his horn? --Sam Graham
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