Interesting comments all; and, in keeping with the incredible depth, scope and inclusiveness of Trane's music, I think that there is truth in all of them.
While it is true that bringing new players in compounded the "problem", I am not sure that the inevitable can be seen as a problem. Trane's music was like a train moving forward; with a direction that was unstoppable, if not a runaway train. True, McCoy was the glue, but Trane didn't always want glue; notice how he often had the piano simply lay out and not play ("stroll"). His excursions were then with just drums; his music was very drum-centric. There was a lot of experimentation going on and it would be naive to think that it was all a love-fest. As Acman says, at times there was disagreement and displeasure with the choices that Trane made and the direction of his music. From "Chasin' The Trane" (highly appropriate title for this discussion and highly recommended book):
"When I knew them, Trane and Eric were listening to tribal recordings of South African pygmies. Trane was really into African Rhythms. He told me that each drummer has a certain rhythm to play and doesn't try to play all the rhythms at once. What he heard was several drummers playing polyrhythms" - Leon Thomas
And yet....
"Ain't playin' shit! Trane's got this jerk on drums with me and he's got me goin' for hours on one tune, wearin' me out. Still ain't playin' shit!" - Elvin (on Rashid)
"McCoy left John Coltrane in Dec 1965 to form his own group. He had been thinking of leaving for some time; not because Trane's solo space was stretching out in inverse proportion to his, but because he wanted to follow his own musical direction. However, the fact that Alice Coltrane was also a pianist may have contributed to his decision.
Tyner once said, *A musician such as John shouldn't have to depend on the piano all the time. Sometimes it's better to work without it because the piano, as an orchestral instrument, can get in the way of the soloist, especially a horn player. John and I would decide on which tunes I would play and on which ones I would lay out*
But now McCoy was taking a permanent stroll. And Alice Coltrane walked in as McCoy Tyner walked out" - J.C. Thomas (the author)
While it is true that bringing new players in compounded the "problem", I am not sure that the inevitable can be seen as a problem. Trane's music was like a train moving forward; with a direction that was unstoppable, if not a runaway train. True, McCoy was the glue, but Trane didn't always want glue; notice how he often had the piano simply lay out and not play ("stroll"). His excursions were then with just drums; his music was very drum-centric. There was a lot of experimentation going on and it would be naive to think that it was all a love-fest. As Acman says, at times there was disagreement and displeasure with the choices that Trane made and the direction of his music. From "Chasin' The Trane" (highly appropriate title for this discussion and highly recommended book):
"When I knew them, Trane and Eric were listening to tribal recordings of South African pygmies. Trane was really into African Rhythms. He told me that each drummer has a certain rhythm to play and doesn't try to play all the rhythms at once. What he heard was several drummers playing polyrhythms" - Leon Thomas
And yet....
"Ain't playin' shit! Trane's got this jerk on drums with me and he's got me goin' for hours on one tune, wearin' me out. Still ain't playin' shit!" - Elvin (on Rashid)
"McCoy left John Coltrane in Dec 1965 to form his own group. He had been thinking of leaving for some time; not because Trane's solo space was stretching out in inverse proportion to his, but because he wanted to follow his own musical direction. However, the fact that Alice Coltrane was also a pianist may have contributed to his decision.
Tyner once said, *A musician such as John shouldn't have to depend on the piano all the time. Sometimes it's better to work without it because the piano, as an orchestral instrument, can get in the way of the soloist, especially a horn player. John and I would decide on which tunes I would play and on which ones I would lay out*
But now McCoy was taking a permanent stroll. And Alice Coltrane walked in as McCoy Tyner walked out" - J.C. Thomas (the author)