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Blue World is an album of 1964 John Coltrane recordings, created as a film soundtrack and released on September 27, 2019.

In 1964, Coltrane was approached by the French Canadian director Gilles Groulx to record a soundtrack for his film Le chat dans le sac. In June of that year, between the recording sessions for Crescent and A Love Supreme, Coltrane brought his Classic Quartet — pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones — to Van Gelder Studios to revisit and record new versions of his earlier works for Groulx.

Recorded on 1/4″ analogue mono tape, the session was mixed by Rudy Van Gelder on June 24, 1964. Although Groulx took the master to Canada with him, he only used ten minutes of the 37-minute recording. But now, the original analogue tape has been remastered, and the full never-before-heard recording is being released under the title Blue World. Hear its title track below.

Reception.

Stereogum’s Phil Freeman gave the soundtrack a positive review, calling the piece a coherent recording that almost functions as a suite and writing that the performances are “fascinating and entertaining”. For The Arts Fuse, Michael Ullman claims that Coltrane fans will “have to have” the album, particularly for the clarity of the recording during the Classic Quartet period. Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 out of 5 and stated:”While completely enjoyable, Blue World’s true value perhaps lies in revealing the quartet encountering this older material with a fully developed musical character, and changing its shapes, accents, colors, and textures according to its own expressive signature. These versions differ (often significantly) from previously issued ones, making Blue World a necessary addendum to the recognized historical record to be sure. But just as importantly, it adds another very satisfying entry to the music libraries of Coltrane’s legions of fans.”

Track listing:
All songs written by John Coltrane

“Naima” (Take 1) – 4:36
“Village Blues” (Take 2) – 3:46
“Blue World” – 6:08
“Village Blues” (Take 1) – 3:48
“Village Blues” (Take 3) – 3:46
“Like Sonny” – 2:43
“Traneing In” – 7:38
“Naima” (Take 2) – 4:08

Personnel:
The John Coltrane Quartet

John Coltrane – composer, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Jimmy Garrison – double bass
Elvin Jones – drums
McCoy Tyner – piano

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Released: September 27, 2019
Recorded: June 24, 1964
Studio: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S.
Length: 36:33
Label: Impulse!