muzycy:
John Coltrane: tenor saxophone
Eric Dolphy on alto sax and flute
McCoy Tyner on piano
Reggie Workman on bass
Elvin Jones on drums

Editor’s info:
The present performances, long unavailable on CD, were not included on the 7-CD set The European Tours. None of the music compiled here is duplicated on that set. Backed by Tyner, Workman and Jones, Coltrane decided in mid-1961 to try his luck with his first European tour as a leader. The group which crossed the ocean, however, wasnt a quartet but a quintet, due to the addition of alto sax and flute player Eric Dolphy. For a long time, declared later Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and I had been talking about all kinds of improvising techniques. Finally, I decided that as long as my band was working steadily, it made sense for Eric to join us.
The Olympia performances are full of excitement, with Trane and Dolphy exploring their own musical limits, although both of them still exhibit a more melodic style than the one that would characterize them a few years later. They play beautiful arrangements of the tunes, with Dolphy constructing subtle counterpoints to Trane.