| Throughout the summer of 1957, Coltrane played in Thelonious Monk's combo and the results were quite sensational. Musicians and critics flocked to the venue and trombonist J. J. Johnson described it as the most electrifying sound in jazz since Bird and Diz in 1940. American writer Ira Gitler went to the Five Spot two or three times a week, staying all night even when he had intended just to catch a set or two. Although there are very few surviving recordings of these two together, some idea of their musical com-patibility and remarkable cohesion can be heard on Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Jazzland) and the Monk/Coltrane Live At The Five Spot Discovery! (Blue Note), the latter taken from a private tape made at the club some time towards December 1957 by Trane's wife Naima. The fidelity is quite low on the live set but the assurance, the authority of Coltrane's playing can be heard clearly. No longer hesitant or tentative this is masterly tenor with Coltrane playing double, triple and quadruple time and piling up fast clusters of notes to explore every possible combination on each chord. Gitler described this at the time as "sheets of sound"--and the term stuck. |
