Africa/Brass is a studio album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. It was released on September 1, 1961 through Impulse! Records. Coltrane's working quartet is augmented by a larger ensemble that brings the total to twenty-one musicians. Its big band sound, with the unusual instrumentation of French horns and euphonium, presented music very different from anything that had been associated with Coltrane to date. While critics originally gave it poor ratings, more recent jazz commentators have described it as "amazing" and as a "key work in understanding the path that John Coltrane's music took in its final phases." It is Coltrane's first release for Impulse!.
Background In 1961, Coltrane came into his own as a front-rank force in jazz, his influence growing from years of live performances with Thelonious Monk , Miles Davis and leading his own groups, and from the impact of the albums Giant Steps and My Favorite Things . Impulse Records executive Creed Taylor bought out Coltrane's contract with Atlantic Records , making Coltrane the first artist to be signed to the new company's roster. It was the best contract a jazz musician had ever received after Davis with Columbia , one year followed by two-year options for two albums per year with a $10,000 advance against royalties the first year rising to a $20,000 advance for the second and third years. Backed by the resources of ABC Records and set up to be an instant major player in the jazz market, Impulse! offered him greater scope. Coltrane would remain with Impulse! the rest of his life, and to inaugurate his move to the new label he planned a large-group recording. Coltrane had not been in a recording studio as a leader since the October 1960 sessions for My Favorite Things , although on March 20 and 21, 1961, he had made a last recorded contribution for Davis, guesting on two tracks for Someday My Prince Will Come . Earlier in 1961, Coltrane had invited multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy to join his band, making it a quintet. Around the same time, bassist Steve Davis departed, replaced by Reggie Workman , at times Coltrane pairing him with a second bassist, Art Davis . With this group in tow, on May 23 Coltrane entered the new Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey , for the first time; Rudy Van Gelder had been the sound engineer for most of his earlier sessions with Prestige Records . Coltrane would make the bulk of his recordings at the Van Gelder studio for the remainder of his career.
Reception and influence In a contemporaneous review that appeared in the January 18, 1962, issue of DownBeat magazine critic Martin Williams had this to say: "In these pieces, Coltrane has done on record what he has done so often in person lately, make everything into a handful of chords, frequently only two or three, turning them in every conceivable way..." The album impressed minimal music composer Steve Reich , who called it "basically a half-an-hour in E. Jazz musicians say, 'Hey man', what's the changes?' 'E.' 'No! E for half-an-hour!' ".
Original release All tracks are written by John Coltrane except as noted.
