Olé Coltrane

I recently discovered the Spanish folk song that inspired John Coltrane's Olé, an epic 18 minute long exploration of flamenco and Middle Eastern themes. With the help of McCoy Tyner's Arabian-drenched block chords, Eric Dolphy's flute, two bassists (one plucking while the other uses a bow, which actually works well and adds a haunting quality to the song), Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Elvin Jones' persistent drumming, this flamenco-tinged drone succeeds. After the successful exploration of African music on his Africa/Brass, Coltrane continued to explore rhythms and musical modes associated with Indian, African, Middle Eastern, and Spanish music. It would've been nice to hear Elvin Jones solo because everyone else but him does, but beggars can't be choosers.

From what I've discovered through listening to folk music for the past several hours online, a song from the Spanish Civil War about El Quinto Regimiento, which was based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca, is the basis for Coltrane's Ole (which itself is a phrase probably of Arabic origin that is associated with bullfighting, a custom that began in Andalucia and spread to Latin America). I've found alternate titles for this piece, the two being "Venga Vallejo" and "Anda Jaleo," and it was covered by Pete Seeger's early folk group, The Almanac Singers, as "El Quinto Regimiento." It's not a surprise that Pete Seeger would perform a song honoring the regiment formed by the Communist Party during Spain's Civil War due to his left wing leanings. Coltrane presumably heard the song while exploring world music or through listening to Pete Seeger's folk music. Either way, it's fascinating to trace the genealogical roots of songs.

Now listen to Ole by John Coltrane and hear the similarities in the melody in all these songs.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Ol+/2rMIDB?src=5 The complete song from grooveshark