| Jazz |
When the names of these two artists appear on a recording, there is no need to question their legitimacy, nor to wonder whether the result will meet expectations. The answer is already inscribed in the music itself. With this album, the promise is not only fulfilled but surpassed.
Released on June 16, 2017, though recorded a full decade earlier at the legendary Clinton Recording Studios in New York, the session was originally conceived for “Jazz on 3,” the BBC Radio 3 program produced by Somethin’ Else. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane’s death on July 17, 1967, with a repertoire of seven pieces tracing the arc of Coltrane’s creative evolution. Titled Compassion, the project stands as a spiritual companion to Coltrane’s Offering: Live at Temple University—issued in 2014 with liner notes by Ashley Kahn that went on to earn a Grammy Award.
The quintet assembled for this occasion is nothing short of formidable, a constellation of musicians celebrated both as solo artists and as trusted collaborators on landmark recordings. From the very first notes, the listener is immersed in Coltrane’s universe, works at once familiar yet startlingly new, shaped with reverence but also reimagined with a fearless vitality. The two saxophonists, in particular, pour their entire being into each phrase. The result is breathtaking.
But how did this album come into being?
The story begins in late June 2007, when Dave Liebman, an NEA Jazz Master, received a phone call from Robert Abel, producer of the BBC’s popular “Somethin’ Else” program. Abel noted that July 17 would mark forty years since Coltrane’s passing, and proposed a commemorative broadcast. Could Liebman bring in Saxophone Summit, the group he co-led with Grammy winner Joe Lovano and Coltrane’s son, Ravi? With only weeks to prepare, Liebman managed to gather the group’s core members: Lovano, pianist Phil Markowitz, and drummer Billy Hart. Ron McClure stepped in for bassist Cecil McBee, who was unavailable.
The session was recorded on June 22, 2007, almost exactly forty years to the day since Coltrane’s death. What emerged was more than fifty minutes of music that crystallized the extraordinary breadth of Coltrane’s relatively brief but monumental career. A decade later, Resonance Records brought the tapes to light.
What the listener hears is not a mere exercise in homage. Coltrane’s music, timeless in every sense, becomes a canvas for new explorations. The musicians deliberately avoided the easy path, choosing instead some of Coltrane’s most demanding works and rendering them with a depth that borders on the sublime.
To mark the anniversary, Liebman and Lovano expanded the focus beyond a single period, drawing instead from every stage of Coltrane’s evolution. The result is a study in contrasts: six distinct phases of his legacy, each representing a different philosophy and sound world. “Each period reflects such a unique perspective that it is astonishing to realize one man achieved all this in so little time,” Liebman writes in the album notes.
What emerges feels like turning pages in a living history, each one more moving and revelatory than the last. It is an album from which it is nearly impossible to disengage, so complete is its balance of intellect, beauty, and fire.
Jazz, of course, has always carried its share of politics and social conscience. Here, too, that spirit resonates. The piece Reverend King offers a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.—a free-time, entirely diatonic meditation with the rare sound of Liebman on flute. From there, the ensemble segues into Equinox, another blues form echoing the album’s opening statement. The journey concludes with Compassion, drawn from Coltrane’s late masterpiece Meditations (1965–67). As Liebman explains, the titles, Amen, To Be, and others, mirror Coltrane’s spiritual quest, music built not on conventional rhythm or harmony but on ceaseless interaction and searching dialogue within the group.
“This is Coltrane’s legacy as carried forward by Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, and this ensemble,” notes producer Zev Feldman, who adds that the album booklet itself is a trove of insights, offering context for each musician while underscoring Coltrane’s enduring influence a half-century after his death.
Drummer Billy Hart perhaps captures the essence most simply: “I just think the world is better when you listen to Coltrane’s music.”
The modernity of Coltrane’s voice, revived here by some of the finest minds in contemporary jazz, makes this album not only an essential document of study but also a gift of beauty, destined to resonate with listeners far beyond the circle of jazz devotees.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, September 3rd 2025
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Websites:
– Dave Liebman
– Joe Lovano
Musicians:
DaveLiebman- tenor/soprano sax, wooden recorder, C flute
Joe Lovano- tenor sax, aulochrome, alto clarinet, Scottish flute
Phil Markowitz- piano
Ron McClure- bassist
Billy Hart- drummer
Track Listing:
1. Locomotion (6:11)
2. Central Park West/Dear Lord (8:07)
3. Olé (8:44)
4. Reverend King (5:20)
5. Equinox (6:39)
6. Compassion (17:18)