The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording

The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording
Live album by John Coltrane
Released	2001
Recorded	April 23, 1967, Olatunji Center of African Culture, New York City, New York, United States
Genre	Free jazz
Length	63:38
Language	Instrumental
Label	Impulse!
Producer	Bryan Koniarz
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The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording is the Impulse! Records-released final live recording of saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded April 23, 1967, at the Olatunji Center of African Culture in New York and released posthumously on Compact Disc. The album consists of two songs—"Ogunde", which Coltrane also recorded for his final self-approved album, Expression, and an especially free-form "My Favorite Things", which Coltrane had performed live regularly since 1960. The recording was done for broadcast on Billy Taylor's local radio station, WLIB.

On the recording, Coltrane performs intense and lengthy, if poorly recorded, solos. Sonically, the album is notable for its overwhelming din of multiple drummers.

Rumors of Coltrane being deathly ill and unable to stand during the gig are dispelled in Lewis Porter's John Coltrane: His Life and Music. Rashied Ali opines that Coltrane might have simply been tired that day. It was not until May—about a month after this show—that Coltrane began to complain of intense abdominal pain; he died two months after that, in July. The Olatunji Concert was not Coltrane's last show, but rather, his penultimate—he would play one more on May 7, 1967, in Baltimore.

Track listing

1. Introduction by Billy Taylor – 0:35
2. "Ogunde" – 28:25
3. "My Favorite Things" – 34:38

Personnel

• John Coltrane – soprano and tenor saxophone
• Rashied Ali – drums
• Alice Coltrane – piano
• Algie DeWitt – Batá drum
• Jimmy Garrison – double bass
• Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone
• Juma Santos – percussion (possibly)