 In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format.Coltrane described "Ascension" in a radio interview as a "big band thing", although it resembles no big band recording made before it.The most obvious antecedent is Ornette Coleman's octet (or "double quartet") recording, "", which—like "Ascension"—is a continuous 40-minute performance with ensemble passages and without breaks.