John Coltrane - Ascension

Ascension is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, originally released in February 1966 via Impulse records.

Often considered to be a watershed album, with John Coltrane's prior releases being more conventional in structure, Ascension marks the beginning of Coltrane's looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format, with Coltrane describing Ascension in a radio interview as a "big band thing", although it resembles no big band recording made before it. Jazz musician Dave Liebman, commenting on Ascension, called it the "torch that lit the free jazz thing".

Ascension was recorded at The Van Gelder Studio, New Jersey, and was produced by Bob Thiele. With Ascension the horn section is moored to a monolithic rhythm section, centered on pianist McCoy Tyner, double bassists Jimmy Garrison and Art Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. On Ascension (and unlike on Coleman's Free Jazz), group ensembles alternate with solos, and take up about equal space. 

The horn section consisted mostly of younger players, most of whom would soon attain some degree of fame on the free jazz scene. A notable exception is trumpeter Dewey Johnson, who plays the first solo of the album after Coltrane. Plagued by mental illness, Johnson never made another professional recording after Ascension, and because of his obscurity, despite his his prominent place on the album, his solo is sometimes mistaken for Freddie Hubbard's.

The album's personnel are:

• Freddie Hubbard – trumpet
• Dewey Johnson – trumpet
• Marion Brown – alto saxophone
• John Tchicai – alto saxophone
• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
• Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone
• Archie Shepp – tenor saxophone
• McCoy Tyner – piano
• Art Davis – bass
• Jimmy Garrison – bass
• Elvin Jones – drums

This 2016 "Back to Black" Limited Edition LP Record Reissue is on 180 Gram Heavyweight Vinyl, housed in a Gatefold Sleeve with a digital download card, pressed in Europe.