On March 6 1963, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet — McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones — recorded an entire studio album at Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey. This fabled session will finally be released on June 29 as Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album.

Hear one of its previously unheard tracks, “Untitled Original 11383”, below:

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Although the master tapes were lost, Coltrane left a reference tape of the sessions with his wife Naima, from which Both Directions At Once is sourced.

It features two completely unknown and never-before-heard originals, “Untitled Original 11383” and “Untitled Original 11386,” both played on soprano sax. “One Up, One Down” – released previously only on a bootleg recording from Birdland – is heard as a studio recording for the first and only time. “Impressions,” one of Coltrane’s most famous compositions, is played here in a piano-less trio.

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This studio session also yielded Coltrane’s first recording of “Nature Boy,” which he would record again very differently in 1965.

Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album will be released via Impulse! in standard and 2xCD or 2xLP deluxe editions, as well as on streaming platforms. The second disc of the deluxe edition features a number of alternative takes from the same sessions. Peruse the full tracklistings below:

Standard Edition:
1. Untitled Original 11383 (5:41)
2. Nature Boy (3:24)
3. Untitled Original 11386 (8:43)
4. Vilia (5:32)
5. Impressions (4:36)
6. Slow Blues (11:28)
7. One Up, One Down (8:01)

Deluxe Edition:
Disc one

1. Untitled Original 11383 (Take 1) (5:41)
2. Nature Boy (3:24)
3. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 1) (8:43)
4. Vilia (Take 3) (5:32)
5. Impressions (Take 3) (4:36)
6. Slow Blues (11:28)
7. One Up, One Down (Take 1) (8:01)

Disc two
1. Vilia (Take 5) (4:37)
2. Impressions (Take 1) (4:06)
3. Impressions (Take 2) (4:37)
4. Impressions (Take 4) (3:40)
5. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 2) (8:41)
6. Untitled Original 11386 (Take 5) (8:23)
7. One Up, One Down (Take 6) (7:17)

Read much more about John Coltrane and the recording of Both Directions At Once in the next issue of Uncut, on sale June 14.

The July 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Public Image Ltd on the cover in the UK and Johnny Cash overseas. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive new interviews with Ray Davies, Father John Misty, Pink Floyd, Mazzy Star, Sleaford Mods, Neko Case and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Father John Misty, Neko Case, Natalie Prass, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Jon Hassell.