So how was Rudy to work with?
He was a very nice man. Very friendly and open and interested in listening to what you had to say. But also very quiet and very much into the music and doing his work.
Bob Thiele worked on all three of the records you did with Rudy, right? How did their relationship appear to you?
They knew each other very well and had done many records together. It was a very smooth collaboration. Thiele was more in the background listening to what was going on.
Was there a lot of isolation on the recording of Ascension or were you all close together?
No, we were very much together. There might have been some low baffles between the drums and us, but everyone was pretty close in the big room. The room had a very churchlike feeling with the high ceilings.
Did each musician have their own mic?
Yes.
Was there any kind of room mic up overhead?
I think so... This was a long time ago... [laughs]
If you can't remember the exact microphones, this interview is over!
[more laughter]
Was the piano in the same room with you or was it in the iso booth?
No, no — it was in the same room. The piano and drums were off to one side and we [horns] were more in the middle of the room. The bass was by the drums.
How long did it take to record Ascension?
We started around 11 in morning or so. Coltrane came in and was on his knees on the floor writing arrangements and then started to explain what the music was going to be. Then we started to rehearse it. We might have rehearsed it one time through and then we did the recording. Then we took a break and did another take with the solos in a different order. [Both of these takes were eventually released as Ascension Edition's I & II.] I think we were done around 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
So pretty quick then, no futzing around?
Yeah, yeah. [laughs] It was a nice place to play. Nice acoustics and we didn't wear headphones.
Word is that a lot of the musicians then liked to record at Rudy's because it was out of the city, across the river, and away from the record labels.
That is true, yes. It was a nice spot, in a forest almost but with a nice view of the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson River.
So no record label suits then? I would assume that especially with what you guys were doing then that some of the record labels didn't get it?
Yeah, yeah that's right. [laughs]. No, none of that. Rudy's place was away from all that. I think that was why Coltrane liked to record there, that elevated kind of feeling. There was full freedom.
