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With Ancestral (Whirlwind, 2025), alto saxophonist and composer John O’Gallagher explores the late-period work of John Coltrane, specifically Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1974) and Stellar Regions (Impulse!, 1995). These examinations build upon O’Gallagher’s doctoral work, which argues that so-called “free” music is not actually free as the term is commonly used.  Or, in O’Gallagher’s words, researching Trane’s final recordings gave him “ideas about how to be freer within the systems that [he] had developed, and how to perceive them in a more organic way.” Guitarist Ben Monder – who seems ubiquitous lately – joins in the studies. So too, in their first-ever recorded meeting, do acclaimed drummers Billy Hart and Andrew Cyrille. The album’s tracks are mostly first takes, incorporating a range of through-composed pieces, sketches, collective compositions, and group improvisations. Given that Coltrane recorded Interstellar Space with drummer Rashied Ali and Stellar Regions with Ali, Jimmy Garrison, and Alice Coltrane,  Ancestral’s instrumentation effectively aims to bridge the two influences.

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“Awakening” begins with soft, unison lines between Monder and the saxophonist, like a slow sunrise breaking through the mist. Hart’s mallets dance on drumheads, but otherwise, the piece is unhurried and full of spatial gaps. O’Gallagher sees it as an ancient folk song that gains momentum with Cyrille’s skittering beats. The lader’s lines growing fiercer and the beats more intense as they build to a crescendo.  “Under the Wire” features an off-kilter swing, somewhat reminiscent of Monk’s angularity. Monder plays a bass ostinato as the melody changes from lazy strolls to enthusiastic skips and jumps with feisty interplay between the saxophonist and guitarist over a busy engine room underneath. It fades out in surprising calm.​

The fully improvised “Contact” evokes an unsettling and foreboding solitude, as if reflecting a fear that something distressing is on the horizon. Espousing the nervous energy an athlete feels before their game begins. Reflecting the dread a pilot may sense during a perilous takeoff or landing. The mind can wander to several places in the textures of the piece’s feedback-drenched guitar and percussion. O’Gallagher returns for “Tug,’’ reflecting an entirely different character through the saxophonist’s elongated lines and the striking interplay between Hart and Cyrille. While the horn becomes highly energised, it eventually yields to the beats and cymbal flourishes of the two drummers and Monder’s foghorn-like chords. ​

The leader delivers a melodic phrase in “Profess” boldly before embarking on a vigorous Trane-inspired improvisation. He adopted the melody from a larger piece and had Paul Motian in mind when composing it. Unlike the opener, there is little space here; the band members all play feverishly.  O’Gallagher draws even closer to Trane on “Altar of the Ancestors,” a piece that could be likened to his inspiration’s “Vigil” with Elvin Jones, even as neither Hart nor Cyrille plays with the same thunder, opting instead for a steady, more nuanced approach.  ​

“Quixotica” begins with Monder’s comforting chords, and rain-like cymbal clashes form the percussionists. It’s not clear where the piece is headed with Monder’s picking. O’Gallagher enters, helming a combination of melody and improvisation that keeps circling back, slightly different in each rendition.  The closing “Postscript” was the first piece that the quartet recorded. It is completely improvised and played with verve by all. Monder’s descending figure at the end feels like a definitive ending, but the drummers have the final say.

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Ancestral is equally powerful, invigorating, and contemplative. One can detect the rigour with which O’Gallagher approached his study of Coltrane. It may not quite have the cosmic feel of the two Coltrane albums cited – what does? – but comes very close. Needless to say, O’Gallagher and his bandmates are masters in every respect.

‘Ancestral’ is out now on Whirlwind Recordings. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.