Africa/Brass (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)

Independent shop in BallardDirections

Available from Light in the Attic Records when we last checked, in the last two days. Sold from the shop’s own store; the price there is the one that counts.

Africa/Brass, released in 1961, was John Coltrane’s first album for Impulse! Records and a turning point in his recorded output. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio and produced by Creed Taylor, the project expanded Coltrane’s working quartet into a large ensemble, pairing his searching tenor and soprano saxophone with dense, brass-heavy orchestrations by Cal Massey. Arrangements by Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner helped shape the album’s distinctive sound, weaving tuba, euphonium, French horns, an