I've probably posted this before, I don't care. A record forgotten by everyone, released on Impulse! about the time I was going to school in LA, at USC. I listened to this a lot, and it got me into trouble in combo rehearsal, because I wanted to kick this level of ass all the time. There were some fussy wind players— I don't know what they took up the instrument for.
McCoy Tyner and Roy Haynes in particular are in pure freight train mode. How are you going to play a Coltrane tribute record any other way. It's not about chops, it's about energy. There's a lot of joy here:
The bass drum sound is something else, it's a wide open 20", and they weren't shy about putting it right there in the mix. Cymbal sounds are high and bright, and he punches a lot of accents, moving to the crash cymbal/s a lot. On Pharoah Sanders's solo on Bluesin' For John C. he's hanging out on a little cymbal, maybe a 16? It's a wild sound.
And you don't hear tom sounds like this much any more, it's like a higher version of a Billy Cobham sound— it's an energy sound, not a power sound. Compare with the pretty, controlled, mannered tones people are into now. The tom tom lead in he plays on The Promise is what we're supposed to be doing, playing exciting shit.
The snare drum is that raging Roy Haynes metallic sound of course. I should also note the hihats, which are on the heavier side, and very present— I've used that sloshy cutting sound a lot, I also associate it with Al Foster and with Terry Bozzio playing with Zappa, to some extent with 70s Tony Williams.
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