This album was always a bit of a disappointment.
John Coltrane plays passionately on "My Favorite Things" and with great beauty on "Naima," but
Pharoah Sanders' ferocious screeching on the latter piece largely ruins the almost-sacred ballad. Pianist
Alice Coltrane, bassist
Jimmy Garrison, and drummer
Rashied Ali mostly vamp behind the saxophonists. This album is worth getting for
Coltrane's passionate but coherent playing, but one wishes that
Sanders (who comes across as a much more limited player) had sat the night out. ~ Scott Yanow