Ascension: Edition I & II (Verve Vault 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.

Released on Impulse! Records in 1966, Ascension stands as one of Coltrane’s most radical and influential works. Subtitled “Edition I & II” to reflect the two complete takes recorded at the session, the piece is a nearly 40-minute large-ensemble performance marking his embrace of the avant-garde. Recorded on June 28, 1965 at Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs studio and produced by Bob Thiele, the session assembled an expanded ensemble of 11 musicians. Alongside Coltrane’s tenor sax are trumpeter