Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

John Coltrane

The Other Village Vanguard Tapes

1977  ·  ABC Impulse! AS-9325/2  ·  Stereo  ·  US  ·  2xLP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

John Coltrane - The Other Village Vanguard Tapes: Front Cover
Back Cover Other Side 1 Label Side 1 Vinyl Side 2 Label Side 2 Vinyl Side 3 Label Side 3 Vinyl Side 4 Label Side 4 Vinyl Side 1 Matrix Runout A1 Side 1 Matrix Runout A2 Side 1 Matrix Runout A3 Side 1 Matrix Runout A4 Side 2 Matrix Runout B1 Side 2 Matrix Runout B2 Side 2 Matrix Runout B3 Side 3 Matrix Runout C1 Side 3 Matrix Runout C2 Side 3 Matrix Runout C3 Side 4 Matrix Runout D1 Side 4 Matrix Runout D2 Side 4 Matrix Runout D3

Pressing details

LabelABC Impulse!
Catalogue numberAS-9325/2
Year1977
Mono / StereoStereo
CountryUS
Format2xLP, gatefold
Speed33 1/3 RPM
GenreJazz - Avant-Garde/Free Jazz
ProducerEsmond Edwards
MusiciansJohn Coltrane (soprano and tenor saxophone, all tracks), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet on A-1, A-2, B-1, C-1, D-1), McCoy Tyner (piano on A-2, B-1, C-1, D-1), Jimmy Garrison (bass on B-1, C-1), Reggie Workman (bass on A-1, A-2, C-1, C-2, D-1), Elvin Jones (drums, all tracks), Garvin Bushell (oboe, contrabassoon on C-1, D-1), Ahmed Abdul-Malik (oud on C-1)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  AS-9325/2-A 1 1S SXT D KENDUN-a
Side B:  AS-9325/2-B 1S  3 SXT C5 KENDUN-a
Side C:  AS-9325/2-C 2S SXT B
Side D:  AS-9325/2-D 2 T1 A

Condition

Cover
VG+
Vinyl
NM-

Variant chronology

1977 US ABC Impulse! AS-9325/2, gatefold 2xLP, rainbow "target" label, flat (no deep groove)  <- this copy
1977 France ABC Impulse! AF 9.325.2 / AS 9.325.2 - No documented sale found for this variant.
1977 Italy Impulse! AIMPL 25013 - No documented sale found for this variant.
1977 Italy ABC Impulse! 2 IMP 446 - No documented sale found for this variant.
1977 Japan ABC Impulse! YB-8506~7-AI - No documented sale found for this variant.
1977 Canada ABC Records 2027-9325 - No documented sale found for this variant.
1980 US ABC/MCA Records AS-9325, 2-4137 gatefold reissue - No documented sale found for this variant.
1980 US MCA Records MCA2-4137 reissue - No documented sale found for this variant.
1980 Japan MCA Records VIM-4613~14 reissue - No documented sale found for this variant.
1987 Japan Impulse! 55XD-590/1 CD, remastered - No documented sale found for this variant.
1987 Europe Impulse! 254 639-2 CD, remastered - No documented sale found for this variant.

This Pressing

1977 US ABC Impulse! rainbow-target label, AS-9325/2, flat label (no deep groove); the four runouts represent an unlisted stamper sub-run, so the exact stamper generation is not identified.

The Album

These are unreleased sides from the same November 1961 Village Vanguard engagement that produced Impulse!'s original Live at the Village Vanguard LP, capturing Coltrane's classic quartet expanded by Eric Dolphy on alto and bass clarinet, plus guest bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik on oud and Garvin Bushell on oboe and contrabassoon on the more exploratory tracks. The residency found Coltrane pushing hardest into modal and near-free territory, stretching "Chasin' the Trane," "Spiritual," and "India" into side-length improvisations built on drones and modal vamps rather than conventional chord changes. Dolphy's astringent, angular alto and bass-clarinet lines drew some of the era's most hostile critical response - Down Beat's infamous "anti-jazz" branding stems largely from this run - even as the music now stands as a pivotal bridge between Coltrane's hard-bop roots and the fully open improvisation of his mid-1960s work. "Untitled Original" and the alternate "Greensleeves" and "Spiritual" takes offer additional glimpses of the group testing different lengths and shapes on the same tunes across the week. Compiled and issued by ABC/Impulse in 1977 from tape vaults, the set filled a major gap in the Coltrane discography and let listeners hear how far this quintet pushed the Vanguard material beyond what fit on the 1962 single LP. It remains essential listening for tracing Coltrane and Dolphy's brief, incendiary collaboration and the roots of Coltrane's later modal and free explorations.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Chasin' The Trane - 9:51
2. Spiritual - 12:40

Side 2

1. Untitled Original - 18:40

Side 3

1. India - 15:25
2. Greensleeves - 6:18

Side 4

1. Spiritual - 20:32

The Label

The label on this copy is the ABC Impulse "rainbow target" design: concentric green-to-violet rings, the black-outlined "abc Impulse" oval logo top-centre with two horizontal white bars above and below it, catalogue number AS-9325/2 printed upper-right with the parenthetical per-side runout number below it (e.g. AS-9325-A), and the (p) 1977 ABC Records, Inc. copyright line at the bottom. The label is flat-edged, without a deep groove, consistent with the late-1970s ABC Impulse! rainbow era (roughly 1974-1979), before the MCA/Impulse! buyout switched to the black MCA-era labels seen on the 1980 AS-9325/2-4137 and MCA2-4137 reissues. The spine carries the catalogue number AS-9325 while the labels carry AS-9325/2, placing this copy within the 1977 US pressing of this catalogue number. Several runout-stamp variants exist under this catalogue number; this copy's four runouts do not fully match any one of them stamp-for-stamp, each missing a circled stamper digit found on the others. All variants share this same rainbow-target flat label, catalogue number and 1977 US pressing, so this is read as an unlisted stamper sub-run within the same first US edition rather than a later or different pressing; the exact stamper generation is not identified.

Fidelity

Mastered at Kendun Recorders (Burbank) as stamped in the runouts (KENDUN-a); this is the original 1977 cut used to first release these 1961 Village Vanguard vault tapes, so there is no earlier "first pressing" to outrank it. Collectors on the forums rate the ABC Impulse rainbow-label era as competent but unglamorous mastering compared to the Van Gelder-cut original Impulse! LPs of the 1960s, with somewhat drier, more compressed transfers typical of late-1970s Kendun work. Later reissues - the 1980 MCA2-4137 gatefold and the 1987 Japanese (55XD-590/1) and European (254 639-2) remastered CDs - offer cleaner, quieter surfaces but are digitally sourced and generally regarded as tonally flatter than this vinyl cut. This 1977 vinyl pressing remains the most analog-faithful way to hear this material and sits at the top of the format's vinyl fidelity hierarchy, just below the fidelity of Impulse!'s own vintage Van Gelder-era catalog.

Notes

1977 ABC Impulse! AS-9325/2 stereo gatefold, the first US pressing of this vault release. The rainbow-target label design with no deep groove and the spine/label catalogue-number split (AS-9325 vs AS-9325/2) place this among the earliest pressings under this catalogue number. The runouts carry a KENDUN-a mastering stamp and SXT cutting code shared on sides A and B, with stamper suffixes typical of normal stamper-to-stamper variation within the same pressing run rather than a different edition. No deep groove or promo markings appear on this copy.

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