Naima Coltrane
McCoy Tyner / Naima
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John Fraim
I heard a mesmerizing piece over the jazz radio station I stream all day and night into my office: KCSM Jazz from the campus of the College of San Mateo on the San Francisco Peninsula. By the San Francisco International Airport.
I used to live in the Bay Area but now I live back here in Central Ohio, the Northeast part of Columbus in the suburb of New Albany. Six miles east of the 30 mile 270 Outerbelt around Columbus, we’ve lived here for eight years having moved back from Palm Desert, California. A large change. But both my wife and me have been bouncing between Ohio and California our whole lives.
It’s on now at 10:30 pm on a cold night in Central Ohio. Late February and the largest snowfall of the winter so far. No more than a few inches. The big snows have not come. So far. The weather is up and down like a roller coaster. Maybe this is the reason so many are doing crazy things. The nation seems to spin more out of control as politicians can’t agree on anything at a time there needs to be some type of unity in the nation. It seems to me.
I’m going through emails on the large HP 32” Omen computer screen attached to my MacBook Pro. Loading photos I just took. Doing this when this mesmerizing piece comes over KCSM. It is a version of John Coltrane’s “Naima” written for his wife who helped him in life so much. I claim to know a little about John Coltrane since I wrote a biography on his life called Spirit Cather (1980) and published it under my own imprint. The book received Best Biography of the Year from the Small Press Association of America.
My biography of John Coltrane was written, somewhat perhaps serendipity-like, right after I left working for the big corporation for five years. A Business Analyst title with a number of other lawyers like me. Putting deals together for the company.
My office was on the 17th floor of one of their huge buildings on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. Market Street below. I could look up and down Market and across the street into the canyons of the Financial District.
I was with an unusual group of other young people, right out of law school who came to work for the big corporation. I’ve followed things over the years and a good friend of mine at the time is one of the head people at the entire corporation. Across Market, were the canyons of the Financial District.
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I was leading a double life during most of this time working for the large corporation. It took not long at all to understand that this was not part of my passion a. I was rediscovering the love of listening to the jazz records of my father over the years. He introduced me to jazz. Thanks dad.
Perhaps the one record and jazz artist that changed my life at this time was McCoy Tyner and his Inner Voices album of 1977, recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley and Produced by Orrin Keepnews. It had a profound effect on me. Much more than any other piece of music. It was my third year into my employment with the large corporation. It made me see many things in a new light. Though the music of McCoy Tyner I was drawn backwards in time to the music of John Coltrane in the 60s. I was aware of Coltrane in those years but just vaguely living in Dayton, Ohio and into the Beatles more than anything else.
I stayed with the corporation for five years and left at the end of the December my second son was born. I wrote my book Spirit Catcher: The Life & Art of John Coltrane (GreatHouse, 1993) at this time. Really, I had been brought to the music of John Coltrane by McCoy Tyner, his pianist in the legendary quartet but so much more than his pianist to Trane. Really, a type of disciple or protege.
I wrote my biography of Coltrane right after my son Christopher was born. The book was a catharsis to me, a way of releasing pent-up feelings for jazz that had come to mean so much to me over the years. Just as it had become such a big thing in my father’s life.
It was a real catharsis and coming out as an artist for me I think. After a BA from UCLA and JD from Loyola Law School and the years as a Marketing Consultant in the Bay Area. My firm Pacific Marketing Strategies with the beautiful lone pine at Pebble Beach as our logo in light grey.
The years of writing and more consulting in the East Bay and divorcing and going my own way. But again, there was only the central realization that I was an artist more anything else. The word seemed sufficiently large and vague enough to encompass all what I considered I was.
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Spending the nights at jazz clubs in Berkeley and Oakland and bringing in a recording engineer for a few live dates in Berkeley of a new jazz trio led by a Russian pianist who was blowing out the jazz piano world in San Francisco. I met him and we became good friends, and I then recorded him and his trio at Larry Blakes on Telegraph Avenue just a few blocks from the UC Berkeley campus. After a few months, the trio was drawing a huge crowd to Larry Blakes, and I decided to product a live date by bringing in a recording engineer from the local jazz radio station KRE the great Berkeley AM jazz radio station.
I loved this type of activity: finding exciting new jazz performers in the growing Loft Jazz Scene around the Bay Area at the time. I was on its board. The group promoted jazz in very small venues about town. In lofts as we said. It was a true grass roots jazz group. We met is some old, abandoned brewery in San Francisco. Many top up and coming young jazz people in the Bay Area were associated with it. It was right below the SF Jazz Society as a jazz group at the time.
I started writing a Jazz Newsletter that had a circulation to a lot of the leading jazz people in the Bay Area at the time. The large corporation wasn’t for me but then I wanted to put in some time there as it was a learning experience for me in so many ways. And, I had some good friends there as well as at other firms in downtown San Francisco. I played racquetball three times a week with a good friend in a financial firm in the financial district.
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Moving a little off track to what our story focus I suppose. Whatever this focus is. I’m not that sure it has been very defined. But in so much of this it seems like we’re all singing out of the same hymnal. This is always a worrisome sign for me. The piece “Naima” is – I think – the most personal and beautiful piece Coltrane ever recorded. it goes back to a time in his life when she was instrumental in getting her husband off of heroin and able to move forward with his life.
Coltrane wrote the song “Naima” to honor his wife and her efforts to pull him out of a heroin daze never to become anything. It was Naima that pushed him on to the world outside of his drug habit at the time.
I had heard many versions of “Naima,” which I felt was Coltrane’s most beautiful composition. This one by the particular album and group I found out from KCSM as the album as Traneformation, a play on John Coltrane’s name.
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I wrote down the musician as Brian Melville and went searching for his name. I found the album in my Apple Music Store. I found some interesting information on him. I really had not heard of him before. The album that “Naima” is on is discussed in an article.
American drummer Brian Melvin and Danish guitarist Søren Lee spearhead a brand new trio alongside Danish organist Mads Søndergaard. The trio release their brand new tribute album to the legendary John Coltrane, Tranesformation.
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Tranesformation pays homage to John Coltrane, a trailblazing figure in the world of jazz. Drawing from Coltrane’s legacy and weaving their own interpretations, Brian Melvin, Søren Lee and Mads Søndergaard invite audiences to join them on an exciting musical voyage.
This recording, consisting of 15 tracks, is a dynamic collaboration that promises to reignite the essence of Coltrane’s music, fusing it with their unique artistic perspectives. United by their immense passion for jazz and their impressive individual careers, Brian Melvin, Søren Lee and Mads Søndergaard have forged a bond that now forms the heart of the exceptional trio. Having captivated audiences across the world, each musician brings their distinct expertise and creative spirit to this project, creating a blend of talents that promises to deliver a fresh, exciting sound to the jazz community.
Brian Melvin’s impressive background includes collaborations with luminary bassist Jaco Pastorius, renowned saxophonist Joe Hendersen and guitar virtuoso John Scofield. His accolades are not only musical, but also historical, as his album Standards Zone soared to the #1 spot on the charts for 13 consecutive weeks, earning a well deserved place in the Jazz Hall of Fame in the US.
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Søren Lee, recognized for his impeccable guitar work and deep musical sensibilities, has left an indelible mark on the jazz scene. Having shared the stage with legends like bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Jim Hall, Lee’s contributions to the international jazz repertoire have garnered critical acclaim. His trio recordings have been described as ‘outstanding’ by none other than the iconic Jim Hall, while pianist and organist Larry Golding hails Lee as ‘a deeply soulful player’.
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Mads Søndergaard, Denmark’s premier organist, is celebrated for his extraordinary musical prowess and collaborations with top-tier jazz musicians across Europe. With a reputation that precedes him, Søndergaard’s presence adds a new dimension to the trio’s sound, promising an unmatched listening experience.
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Fresh off their performances in New York, Denmark and Estonia, the trio’s fans can expect a riveting series of performances in Europe and beyond throughout 2023/24. With their shared vision and collective dedication to the art form,
Brian Melvin, Søren Lee and Mads Søndergaard are have made a mark on the jazz landscape with Tranesformation
Brian Melvin – Drums
Søren Lee – Guitarist
Mads Søndergaard – Organ