Archie Shepp - Four For Trane (1965 Japanese Impulse! Stereo LP)

Vinyl: EX
Sleeve: VG+
Obi: None

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Archie Shepp - Four For Trane Vinyl LP - 1965 Japanese Impulse! Stereo

• John Coltrane as co-producer - Trane personally oversaw this tribute featuring his compositions
• Original 1965 Japanese pressing - King Records, same year as US release with flip-back cover.
• New Thing meets hard bop - Shepp's avant-garde sextet reimagines Coltrane classics

Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp's tribute to John Coltrane features four Coltrane compositions plus one Shepp original, recorded on 10 August 1964 at Van Gelder Studio with co-production by Coltrane himself alongside Bob Thiele. The sextet—Shepp on tenor, John Tchicai on alto, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Alan Shorter on flugelhorn, Reggie Workman on bass, and Charles Moffett on drums—transforms Coltrane pieces like "Syeeda's Song Flute", "Cousin Mary", and "Naima" through the lens of the New Thing movement, Shepp's more avant-garde approach revealing new dimensions in familiar material. Released in Japan in 1965 by King Records, this original pressing captures the moment when free jazz and hard bop traditions intersected, Coltrane's endorsement through co-production signalling his support for the younger generation pushing jazz's boundaries.

The album balances reverence for Coltrane's compositions with Shepp's distinctive voice, the arrangements honouring the source material's structures while allowing freer improvisation than Coltrane's own versions. Tchicai's alto and Rudd's trombone add textural colours absent from Coltrane's quartet, while Workman (who had played with Coltrane) and Moffett provide rhythm section foundation that bridges hard bop tradition and free jazz exploration. Shepp's tenor work demonstrates both his debt to Coltrane and his own emerging voice, his tone rougher and more emotionally raw. Van Gelder's engineering and King Records' Japanese pressing quality preserve this historic session where New Thing met spiritual jazz under Coltrane's blessing.