Writings about Music

Music Out of This World

It's apparent to me that the John Coltrane Quartet recording of "Out of This World" was inspired at least in part by the Lee Konitz recording of "You're Clear Out of This World" including an arrangement by Jimmy Giuffre. Decide yourself.

 

 

There are strong musical connections between these two supreme saxophonists for myself, beginning with a sublime granularity of timbral texture, expanding into variation weaving of dreams like infinite tributaries of the Mississippi, Dnieper and Nile rivers.

My allusion to the song "Weaver of Dreams" is timely because Lee was transcribing John's famous rendition from the "Cannonball and Coltrane" album while I was studying with Lenny Tristano's most prominent student following my freshman year of college, the in-process score paper left out on the stand. I asked Lee if he had ever met Coltrane, learning they never spoke other than saying hello.

My own Rajasthani Spring brings together a musical love of Coltrane and Konitz under the Miracle Mile sun and moon. Related to my music for meruvina, Lee has sent handwritten letters rare today amidst email, including these thoughts responding to my Hamoa album: "Just returned and found your CD. Very nice - swings good! It'sgreat doing the whole thing yourself. I just go in and play, and the rest is out of my hands."

 

 

 

- Michael Robinson, February 2017, Los Angeles

© 2017 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

 

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer, programmer, jazz pianist, and musicologist. His 162 albums include 149 albums for meruvina and 13 albums of piano improvisations. He has been a lecturer at UCLA, Bard College and California State University.