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So they remained shelved for years.

But slowly, jazz fans on the internet began to take notice of the mysterious Coltrane songs in this obscure French-Canadian film. Rumours began to spread that claimed the NFB had lost the original recordings. So Savard got permission to make a post clarifying that the originals still existed and were being properly preserved.

“To me, it was kind of unreal that we had copy one out of one,” Savard said, “(and that) the only existing copy in the entire world was sitting in our archives.”

That message got the attention of Impulse Records, who Savard said had no idea the recording even took place.

“They were flabbergasted. To them, that was unreal.”

Despite being under an exclusive contract, Coltrane had agreed to do the soundtrack for Groulx’s film and signed the deal without notifying his record company, Savard said, which is why they had no official record of it ever taking place.

I wanted these recordings to be part of the Coltrane catalogue

For the next few years, Savard worked with Impulse to help make the recording public. He said Impulse was respectful throughout the process to the history of the making of the recording.

“They’re really acknowledging the fact that this was made for a Quebec film in ’64,” Savard said. “That’s part of what I was so interested in. I wanted the film to get the recognition it deserves.”

Groulx was commissioned by the NFB — with a small budget of only $75,000 — to create a documentary about winter. But instead, he decided to focus more on Quebec’s independence movement and the air of revolution surrounding the province, all of which would end up as Le chat dans le sac. Savard said the film is one of the first to foster a national cinema in the region and build a strong sense of identity for viewers.