The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2

The Africa/Brass Sessions, Vol. 2 is a posthumous compilation album by American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, released in 1974 by Impulse Records. It compiles outtakes from the same 1961 sessions that produced his Africa/Brass album. "Song of the Underground Railroad" and "Greensleeves" were recorded on May 23, while "Africa" was recorded on June 4. On October 10, 1995, Impulse incorporated the tracks issued here into a two-disc set entitled The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions.

Background

After a successful series of albums for Atlantic Records, Coltrane signed to the developing, more jazz-oriented Impulse! Records. He assembled a 17-piece orchestra and started to record a series of sessions called Africa/Brass with musicians such as trumpeters Booker Little and Freddie Hubbard, trombonist Julian Priester, bassists Paul Chambers and Reggie Workman, reed player Eric Dolphy, pianist McCoy Tyner, and drummer Elvin Jones. The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2 compiled music from the second installment of the sessions in 1961.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
And It Don't Stop	A
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide
Tom Hull – on the Web	A−
The Village Voice	A

In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that he "gave up listening" to the rest of Coltrane's posthumous albums but still listens to The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2 "all the time". In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Lindsay Planer praised Coltrane's command of his orchestra and his own playing: "The amazing virtuosity in Coltrane's solos had begun to show signs of the future direction his later avant-garde sides would take." Revisiting his preference of Vol. 2 over the original Africa/Brass, Christgau wrote in 2020 that "the dollops of massed horns that give the album its name contrast far more dynamically against the forward-looking 'Song of the Underground Railroad' than the original album's generic 'Blues Minor.' And while I admit that Elvin Jones is more spectacular on the 1961 'Greensleeves,' the world is a better place with two of 'em."

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Song of the Underground Railroad"	traditional	6:44
2.	"Greensleeves"	traditional	10:53

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Africa"	John Coltrane	16:08

Personnel

Musicians

John Coltrane — soprano and tenor saxophone
Booker Little — trumpet
Freddie Hubbard — trumpet on May 23 session only
Britt Woodman — trombone on June 4 session only
Charles Greenlee — euphonium on May 23 session only
Julian Priester — euphonium on May 23 session only
Carl Bowman — euphonium on June 4 session only
Bill Barber — tuba
Garvin Bushell — piccolo, woodwinds on May 23 session only
Donald Corrado — french horn
Bob Northern — french horn
Robert Swisshelm — french horn
Julius Watkins — french horn
Jim Buffington — french horn on May 23 session only
Eric Dolphy — alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Pat Patrick — baritone saxophone
McCoy Tyner — piano
Reggie Workman — bass
Art Davis — bass on "Africa" only
Elvin Jones — drums

Production

Creed Taylor — record producer
Rudy Van Gelder — audio engineer
Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner — orchestrations

References

Billboard June 29, 1974
^ The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2 at AllMusic
^ Christgau, Robert (April 8, 2020). "Consumer Guide: April, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
Larkin, Colin (2011). "John Coltrane". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 46. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940s-50s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
^ Christgau, Robert (September 12, 1974). "Consumer Guide (48)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved November 24, 2013.

External links

The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2 at Discogs (list of releases)

v t e John Coltrane
Discography
Prestige albums	Mating Call (with Tadd Dameron) Tenor Conclave Coltrane Interplay Wheelin' & Dealin' John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio Soultrane Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette The Cats (with Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Burrell) Lush Life Settin' the Pace Standard Coltrane Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane Stardust Dakar The Believer Black Pearls Bahia The Last Trane Two Tenors
Blue Note albums	Blue Train Coltrane Time
Atlantic albums	Giant Steps Bags & Trane (with Milt Jackson) Coltrane Jazz My Favorite Things Olé Coltrane Coltrane Plays the Blues Coltrane's Sound The Avant-Garde
Impulse! albums	Africa/Brass Coltrane Duke Ellington & John Coltrane Ballads Impressions John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman Crescent A Love Supreme The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Ascension Meditations Kulu Sé Mama Expression Om Cosmic Music (with Alice Coltrane) Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things Transition Sun Ship Infinity Interstellar Space The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2 First Meditations Dear Old Stockholm Stellar Regions Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album Blue World
With Miles Davis	Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet 'Round About Midnight Cookin' Relaxin' Milestones Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants Kind of Blue Jazz Track Workin' Steamin' Someday My Prince Will Come Miles & Monk at Newport Basic Miles At Newport 1958 Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I 1958 Miles Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
With Thelonious Monk	The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings Thelonious Himself Monk's Music Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Live albums	"Live" at the Village Vanguard Live at Birdland New Thing at Newport Live at the Village Vanguard Again! Live in Seattle Live in Japan Afro Blue Impressions The Paris Concert The European Tour Live Trane: The European Tours Bye Bye Blackbird Newport '63 The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up Offering: Live at Temple University A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
Compilations	Alternate Takes The Best of John Coltrane The Classic Quartet – Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings Coltrane for Lovers The Coltrane Legacy The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane The Prestige Recordings Countdown: The Savoy Sessions Dial Africa: The Savoy Sessions Feelin' Good Gold Coast The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings High Step The Major Works of John Coltrane Jupiter Variation Ken Burns Jazz: John Coltrane The Last Giant: Anthology Living Space To the Beat of a Different Drum Trane's Blues Trane's Modes
Compositions	"26-2" "Alabama" "Blue Train" "Central Park West" "Countdown" "Equinox" "Giant Steps" "Impressions" "Lazy Bird" "Moment's Notice" "Mr. P.C." "Naima" "Ogunde"
Documentaries	The Church of Saint Coltrane The World According to John Coltrane Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Related	List of sessions Coltrane changes Sheets of sound Alice Coltrane (wife) Ravi Coltrane (son) Philadelphia house Dix Hills home 5893 Coltrane asteroid John W. Coltrane Cultural Society Tribute albums Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

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