Nate Chinen, writing on wbgo.org about the recently released Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album and on ‘Vilia’ – confirmed quite clearly if you take a few minutes to listen to any previously issued version – was based on ‘Vilja’ from the charming Lehár operetta The Merry Widow to spawn in the head, explains:

“As for ‘Vilia,’ an original that incorporates part of the melody from Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, it feels spiritually connected to ‘My Favorite Things’ — as much in Coltrane’s purity of line on soprano as in the buoyancy of the theme. Tellingly, ‘Vilia’ is the only track from these sessions that ever saw previous release: I grew up knowing it as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Live at Birdland. (It had also appeared on a label compilation in ’65.)”