When I was singing ‘My Favourite Things’, in music class in secondary school, (real secondary school, before comprehensive), little did I know that this Julie Andrews sung ditty from ‘The Sound Of Music’ would be turned into something transcendental by John Coltrane. I first came across it on ‘Coltranology Vol. 1’, borrowed from the local library in the early 80s; a sanctuary from unemployment and lack of funds. The library was, in those days, a life saver. We had the occasional few bob to spend on music and, ahem, “other stuff”, but by and large scrounged, cadged, begged, borrowed, but never stole, what we could. And like many of its kind, Wallasey Central, (Earlston) Library has recently been threatened with closure. Thankfully avoided, for now. Once I got this album back home and played it for the first time, I renewed it as often as I could. It soundtracked so many all nighters. I can remember the dawn chorus to the accompaniment of Coltrane’s soprano sax and Eric Dolphy’s flute. The lush, rolling, but driving tones of the quintet in full glory, playing a song that I had disliked when being made to sing it, but after being exposed to this version, with its playful spontaneity and occasional improvisation it took on a completely new dimension. This is definitely one of the pieces of music that represented a paradigm shift in my musical knowledge at the time and, like yesterday’s instalment, would definitely sit in an all time list of sonic high points. The above film isn’t from the record I’m describing, but is from the same year, and features the same quintet.
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