In 1964, the National Film Board of Canada asked John Coltrane to record the soundtrack for a French-language film titled Le Chat Dans Le Sac (The Cat in the Bag). In June of that year, Coltrane’s classic quartet entered Rudy Van Gelder’s studio and recorded five previously-recorded Coltrane originals. For many years, viewers of the film who recognized the music thought that they were listening to the original recordings, though in fact they were new and had never been heard.
Recorded at New Jersey’s Van Gelder Studios, the 37-minute session was made at the request of Canadian filmmaker Gilles Groulx, who had asked Coltrane to soundtrack his film Le chat dans le sac. (In the end, 10 minutes of the session appeared in the film.) The release was mastered from the original analog tape, according to a Universal press release.
Blue World is the latest in a string of archival Coltrane releases, including last year’s highly successful Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album.
PERSONNEL:
JOHN COLTRANE, leader, tenor & soprano saxophone
JIMMY GARISON, double bass
ELVIN JONES, drums
McCOY TYNER, piano
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 24, 1964
– Disc 1 –
1 Naima (Take 1)
2 Village Blues (Take 2)
3 Blue World
4 Village Blues (Take 1)
– Disc 2 –
1 Village Blues (Take 3)
2 Like Sonny
3 Traneing in
4 Naima (Take 2)