John Coltrane - Wikipedia

2/13/2018 John Coltrane - Wikipedia
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane, also known as "Trane" (September 23, 1926 –
John Coltrane
July 17, 1967),[1] was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane
helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and was later at the forefront of
free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions during his career, and
appeared as a sideman on many albums by other musicians, including
trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.
As his career progressed, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly

spiritual dimension. Coltrane influenced innumerable musicians, and
remains one of the most significant saxophonists in music history. He
received many posthumous awards and recognitions, including
canonization by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William
Coltrane and a special Pulitzer Prize in 2007.[2] His second wife was
pianist Alice Coltrane and their son, Ravi Coltrane, is also a saxophonist.
Coltrane in 1963
Contents
Background information
Biography
Birth name John William
Early life and career (1926–1954)
Miles and Monk period (1955–1957) Coltrane
Davis and Coltrane Also known as "Trane"
Period with Atlantic Records (1959–1961)
Born September 23,
First years with Impulse Records (1961–1962)
1926
Classic Quartet period (1962–1965)
Avant-garde jazz and the second quartet (1965–1967)
Hamlet, North
Adding to the quartet Carolina, U.S.
Death and funeral Died July 17, 1967
Personal life and religious beliefs (aged 40)
Religious figure Huntington, New
Instruments York, U.S.
Legacy Genres Avant-garde jazz ·

Discography hard bop · modal
Prestige and Blue Note Records jazz · free jazz
Atlantic Records Occupation(s) Musician ·
Impulse! Records
composer ·
Sessionography bandleader
Notes
Instruments Tenor, soprano,
References and alto
Further reading saxophone, flute
External links Years active 1945–1967
Labels Prestige · Blue
Note · Atlantic ·
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coltrane 1/14
Biography Impulse!
Associated acts Dizzy Gillespie ·
Miles Davis
Early life and career Quintet · Eric
(1926–1954) Dolphy ·
Thelonious Monk
Coltrane was born in his
· Pharoah
parents' apartment at 200
Sanders · Alice
Hamlet Avenue, Hamlet,
Coltrane
North Carolina on September
23, 1926.[3] His father was Website JohnColtrane.com
John R. Coltrane[4] and his (http://johncoltran
mother was Alice Blair.[5] He e.com)
grew up in High Point,
North Carolina, attending Saint John William Coltrane
Coltrane's first recordings were Born September 23, 1926
William Penn High School
made when he was a sailor.
(now Penn-Griffin School Hamlet, North Carolina,
for the Arts).[6] Beginning US
in December 1938 Coltrane's aunt, grandparents, and father all died Died July 17, 1967 (aged 40)
within a few months of one another, leaving John to be raised by his Huntington, New York,
mother and a close cousin.[7] In June 1943 he moved to Philadelphia.[6] US
In September of that year his mother bought him his first saxophone,
Venerated in African Orthodox Church
an alto.[5] Coltrane played the clarinet and the alto horn in a
Patronage All Artists
community band before taking up the alto saxophone during high
school.[6] He had his first professional gigs in early to mid-1945 – a
Information about
"cocktail lounge trio," with piano and guitar.[8]
Coltrane's canonization
To avoid being drafted by the Army, Coltrane enlisted in the Navy on (http://articles.sfgate.co
August 6, 1945, the day the first U.S. atomic bomb was dropped on m/1998-06-16/music/177
Japan.[9] He was trained as an apprentice seaman at Sampson Naval 22625_1_saint-john-coltr
Training Station in upstate New York before he was shipped to Pearl ane-patron-saint-black-je
Harbor,[9] where he was stationed at Manana Barracks,[10] the largest sus)
posting of African-American servicemen in the world. By the time he
got to Hawaii, in late 1945, the Navy was already rapidly downsizing. Coltrane's musical talent was quickly recognized,
though, and he became one of the few Navy men to serve as a musician without having been granted musicians rating
when he joined the Melody Masters, the base swing band.[9] As the Melody Masters was an all-white band, however,
Coltrane was treated merely as a guest performer to avoid alerting superior officers of his participation in the band.[11]
He continued to perform other duties when not playing with the band, including kitchen and security details. By the
end of his service, he had assumed a leadership role in the band. His first recordings, an informal session in Hawaii
with Navy musicians, occurred on July 13, 1946.[12] Coltrane played alto saxophone on a selection of jazz standards
and bebop tunes.[13]
After being discharged from his duties in the Navy, as a seaman first class in August 1946, Coltrane returned to
Philadelphia, where he "plunged into the heady excitement of the new music and the blossoming bebop scene."[14]
After touring with King Kolax, he joined a Philly-based band led by Jimmy Heath, who was introduced to Coltrane's
playing by his former Navy buddy, the trumpeter William Massey, who had played with Coltrane in the Melody
Masters.[15] In Philadelphia after the war, he studied jazz theory with guitarist and composer Dennis Sandole and
continued under Sandole's tutelage through the early 1950s. Originally an altoist,[16] in 1947 Coltrane also began
playing tenor saxophone with the Eddie Vinson Band.[17] Coltrane later referred to this point in his life as a time when
"a wider area of listening opened up for me. There were many things that people like Hawk [Coleman Hawkins], and
Ben [Webster] and Tab Smith were doing in the '40s that I didn't understand, but that I felt emotionally."[18] A
significant influence, according to tenor saxophonist Odean Pope, was the Philadelphia pianist, composer, and theorist
Hasaan Ibn Ali. "Hasaan was the clue to ... the system that Trane uses. Hasaan was the great influence on Trane’s
melodic concept." [19]
An important moment in the progression of Coltrane's musical development occurred on June 5, 1945, when he saw
Charlie Parker perform for the first time.[6] In a DownBeat article in 1960 he recalled: "the first time I heard Bird play,
it hit me right between the eyes."[6] Parker became an early idol, and they played together on occasion in the late
1940s.[6]
Contemporary correspondence shows that Coltrane was already known as "Trane" by this point, and that the music
from some 1946 recording sessions had been played for trumpeter Miles Davis—possibly impressing him.[6]
Coltrane was a member of groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges in the early to mid-1950s.[6]
Miles and Monk period (1955–1957)

In the summer of 1955, Coltrane was freelancing in Philadelphia while
studying with guitarist Dennis Sandole when he received a call from Davis.
The trumpeter, whose success during the late forties had been followed by
several years of decline in activity and reputation, due in part to his
struggles with heroin, was again active and about to form a quintet.
Coltrane was with this edition of the Davis band (known as the "First Great
Quintet"—along with Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and
Philly Joe Jones on drums) from October 1955 to April 1957 (with a few
absences). During this period Davis released several influential recordings
that revealed the first signs of Coltrane's growing ability. This quintet,
represented by two marathon recording sessions for Prestige in 1956,
resulted in the albums Cookin,' Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin'. The "First Miles Davis. The rivalry, tension,
Great Quintet" disbanded due in part to Coltrane's heroin addiction.[6] and mutual respect between
Coltrane and Davis was formative
During the later part of 1957 Coltrane worked with Thelonious Monk at for both men's careers.
New York’s Five Spot Café, and played in Monk's quartet (July–December
1957), but, owing to contractual conflicts, took part in only one official
studio recording session with this group. Coltrane recorded many albums for Prestige under his own name at this
time, but Monk refused to record for his old label. A private recording made by Juanita Naima Coltrane of a 1958
reunion of the group was issued by Blue Note Records as Live at the Five Spot—Discovery! in 1993. A high quality
tape of a concert given by this quartet in November 1957 was also found later, and was released by Blue Note in 2005.
Recorded by Voice of America, the performances confirm the group's reputation, and the resulting album, Thelonious
Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, is widely acclaimed.[6]
Blue Train, Coltrane's sole date as leader for Blue Note, featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, bassist Paul Chambers, and
trombonist Curtis Fuller, is often considered his best album from this period. Four of its five tracks are original
Coltrane compositions, and the title track, "Moment's Notice", and "Lazy Bird", have become standards. Both tunes
employed the first examples of his chord substitution cycles known as Coltrane changes.[6]
Davis and Coltrane

Coltrane rejoined Davis in January 1958. In October of that year, jazz critic Ira Gitler coined the term "sheets of
sound" to describe the style Coltrane developed with Monk and was perfecting in Davis's group, now a sextet. His
playing was compressed, with rapid runs cascading in hundreds of notes per minute. He stayed with Davis until April
1960, working with alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley; pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans, and Wynton Kelly;
bassist Paul Chambers; and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Jimmy Cobb. During this time he participated in the
Davis sessions Milestones and Kind of Blue, and the concert recordings Miles & Monk at Newport (1963) and Jazz at
the Plaza (1958).[6]
Period with Atlantic Records (1959–1961)

At the end of this period Coltrane recorded his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, Giant Steps (1959), which
contained only his compositions. The album's title track is generally considered to have one of the most difficult chord
progressions of any widely played jazz composition. Giant Steps utilizes Coltrane changes. His development of these
altered chord progression cycles led to further experimentation with improvised melody and harmony that he
continued throughout his career.[6]
Coltrane formed his first quartet for live performances in

1960 for an appearance at the Jazz Gallery in New York City.
'Giant Steps'
0:00 MENU
After moving through different personnel including Steve
One of Coltrane's most acclaimed
Kuhn, Pete La Roca, and Billy Higgins, the lineup stabilized
recordings, "Giant Steps" features
in the fall with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis, and harmonic structures more complex
drummer Elvin Jones. Tyner, from Philadelphia, had been a than were used by most musicians
of the time.
friend of Coltrane's for some years and the two men had an
understanding that the pianist would join Coltrane when
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Tyner felt ready for the exposure of regularly working with
him. Also recorded in the same sessions were the later released albums Coltrane's Sound (1964) and Coltrane Plays
the Blues (1962).[6]
Coltrane's first record with his new group was also his debut playing the soprano saxophone, the hugely successful My
Favorite Things (1961). Around the end of his tenure with Davis, Coltrane had begun playing soprano, an
unconventional move considering the instrument's neglect in jazz at the time. His interest in the straight saxophone
most likely arose from his admiration for Sidney Bechet and the work of his contemporary, Steve Lacy, even though
Davis claimed to have given Coltrane his first soprano saxophone. The new soprano sound was coupled with further
exploration. For example, on the Gershwin tune "But Not for Me", Coltrane employs the kinds of restless harmonic
movement used on Giant Steps (movement in major thirds rather than conventional perfect fourths) over the A
sections instead of a conventional turnaround progression. Several other tracks recorded in the session utilized this
harmonic device, including "26-2", "Satellite", "Body and Soul", and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes".[6]
First years with Impulse Records (1961–1962)

In May 1961, Coltrane's contract with Atlantic was bought out by the newly formed Impulse! Records label.[20] An
advantage to Coltrane recording with Impulse! was that it would enable him to work again with engineer Rudy Van
Gelder, who had taped both his and Davis' Prestige sessions, as well as Blue Train. It was at Van Gelder's new studio in
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey that Coltrane would record most of his records for the label.
By early 1961, bassist Davis had been replaced by Reggie Workman, while Eric Dolphy joined the group as a second
horn around the same time. The quintet had a celebrated (and extensively recorded) residency in November 1961 at
the Village Vanguard, which demonstrated Coltrane's new direction. It featured the most experimental music he had
played up to this point, influenced by Indian ragas, the recent developments in modal jazz, and the burgeoning free
jazz movement. John Gilmore, a longtime saxophonist with musician Sun Ra, was particularly influential; after
hearing a Gilmore performance, Coltrane is reported to have said "He's got it! Gilmore's got the concept!"[21] The most
celebrated of the Vanguard tunes, the 15-minute blues, "Chasin' the 'Trane", was strongly inspired by Gilmore's
music.[22]
During this period, critics were fiercely divided in their estimation

of Coltrane, who had radically altered his style. Audiences, too, were
perplexed; in France he was booed during his final tour with Davis.
In 1961, Down Beat magazine indicted Coltrane and Dolphy as
players of "Anti-Jazz", in an article that bewildered and upset the
musicians.[22] Coltrane admitted some of his early solos were based
mostly on technical ideas. Furthermore, Dolphy's angular, voice-like
playing earned him a reputation as a figurehead of the "New Thing"
(also known as "Free Jazz" and "Avant-Garde") movement led by
Ornette Coleman, which was also denigrated by some jazz
musicians (including Davis) and critics. But as Coltrane's style
further developed, he was determined to make each performance "a
whole expression of one's being".[23]
Classic Quartet period (1962–1965)

In 1962, Dolphy departed and Jimmy Garrison replaced Workman
as bassist. From then on, the "Classic Quartet", as it came to be
Coltrane (Amsterdam, 1961)
known, with Tyner, Garrison, and Jones, produced searching,
spiritually driven work. Coltrane was moving toward a more
harmonically static style that allowed him to expand his 'In a Sentimental Mood'
improvisations rhythmically, melodically, and motivically. 0:00 MENU
Harmonically complex music was still present, but on stage The romantic ballad features
Coltrane heavily favored continually reworking his Coltrane with pianist Duke
Ellington.
"standards": "Impressions", "My Favorite Things", and "I
Want to Talk About You".
Problems playing this file? See media help.
The criticism of the quintet with Dolphy may have affected
Coltrane. In contrast to the radicalism of his 1961 recordings at the Village Vanguard, his studio albums in the
following two years (with the exception of Coltrane, 1962, which featured a blistering version of Harold Arlen's "Out of
This World") were much more conservative. He recorded an album of ballads and participated in collaborations with
Duke Ellington on the album Duke Ellington and John Coltrane and with deep-voiced ballad singer Johnny Hartman
on an eponymous co-credited album. The album Ballads (recorded 1961–62) is emblematic of Coltrane's versatility, as
the quartet shed new light on old-fashioned standards such as "It's Easy to Remember". Despite a more polished
approach in the studio, in concert the quartet continued to balance "standards" and its own more exploratory and
challenging music, as can be heard on the Impressions (recorded 1961–63), Live at Birdland and Newport '63 (both
recorded 1963). Impressions consists of two extended jams including the title track along with "Dear Old Stockholm",
"After the Rain" and a blues. Coltrane later said he enjoyed having a "balanced catalogue."
The Classic Quartet produced their best-selling album, A Love Supreme, in December 1964. A culmination of much of
Coltrane's work up to this point, this four-part suite is an ode to his faith in and love for God. These spiritual concerns
characterized much of Coltrane's composing and playing from this point onwards—as can be seen from album titles
such as Ascension, Om and Meditations. The fourth movement of A Love Supreme, "Psalm", is, in fact, a musical
setting for an original poem to God written by Coltrane, and printed in the album's liner notes. Coltrane plays almost
exactly one note for each syllable of the poem, and bases his phrasing on the words. The album was composed at
Coltrane's home in Dix Hills on Long Island.
The quartet played A Love Supreme live only once—in July 1965 at a concert in Antibes, France.
Avant-garde jazz and the second quartet (1965–1967)

In his late period, Coltrane showed an increasing interest in avant-garde

jazz, purveyed by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra and others. In
developing his late style, Coltrane was especially influenced by the
dissonance of Ayler's trio with bassist Gary Peacock, who had also worked
with Paul Bley, and drummer Sunny Murray, whose playing was honed
with Cecil Taylor as leader. Coltrane championed many younger free jazz
musicians such as Archie Shepp, and under his influence Impulse! became
a leading free jazz record label.
As Coltrane's interest in jazz
After A Love Supreme was recorded, Ayler's style became more prominent
became increasingly experimental,
he added Pharoah Sanders to his in Coltrane's music. A series of recordings with the Classic Quartet in the
ensemble. first half of 1965 show Coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract,
with greater incorporation of devices like multiphonics, utilization of
overtones, and playing in the altissimo register, as well as a mutated return
of Coltrane's sheets of sound. In the studio, he all but abandoned his soprano to concentrate on the tenor saxophone.
In addition, the quartet responded to the leader by playing with increasing freedom. The group's evolution can be
traced through the recordings The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Living Space, Transition, New Thing at Newport,
Sun Ship, and First Meditations.
In June 1965, he went into Van Gelder's studio with ten other musicians (including Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie
Hubbard, Marion Brown, and John Tchicai) to record Ascension, a 40-minute piece that included solos by the young
avant-garde musicians (as well as Coltrane), and was controversial primarily for the collective improvisation sections
that separated the solos. After recording with the quartet over the next few months, Coltrane invited Sanders to join
the band in September 1965. While Coltrane frequently used over-blowing as an emotional exclamation-point,
Sanders would overblow entire solos, resulting in a constant screaming and screeching in the altissimo range of the
instrument.
Adding to the quartet

By late 1965, Coltrane was regularly augmenting his group with Sanders
and other free jazz musicians. Rashied Ali joined the group as a second
drummer. This was the end of the quartet; claiming he was unable to hear
himself over the two drummers, Tyner left the band shortly after the
recording of Meditations. Jones left in early 1966, dissatisfied by sharing
drumming duties with Ali. Both Tyner and Jones subsequently expressed
displeasure in interviews, after Coltrane's death, with the music's new
direction, while incorporating some of the free-jazz form's intensity into
Percussionist Rashied Ali helped to
their own solo projects. augment Coltrane's sound in the last
years of his life.
There is speculation that in 1965 Coltrane began using LSD,[24][25]
informing the "cosmic" transcendence of his late period. After the
departure of Jones and Tyner, Coltrane led a quintet with Sanders on tenor saxophone, his second wife Alice Coltrane
on piano, Garrison on bass, and Ali on drums. Coltrane and Sanders were described by Nat Hentoff as "speaking in
tongues". When touring, the group was known for playing very lengthy versions of their repertoire, many stretching
beyond 30 minutes and sometimes being an hour long. Concert solos for band members often extended beyond fifteen
minutes.
The group can be heard on several concert recordings from 1966, including Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and
Live in Japan. In 1967, Coltrane entered the studio several times; though pieces with Sanders have surfaced (the
unusual "To Be", which features both men on flutes), most of the recordings were either with the quartet minus
Sanders (Expression and Stellar Regions) or as a duo with Ali. The latter duo produced six performances that appear
on the album Interstellar Space.
Death and funeral

Coltrane died of liver cancer at Huntington Hospital on Long Island on July 17, 1967, at the age of 40. His funeral was
held four days later at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City. The service was opened by the Albert Ayler
Quartet and closed by the Ornette Coleman Quartet. Coltrane is buried at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale, New
York.
One of his biographers, Lewis Porter, has suggested that the cause of Coltrane's illness was hepatitis, although he also
attributed the disease to Coltrane's heroin use.[26] In a 1968 interview, Ayler claimed that Coltrane was consulting a
Hindu meditative healer for his illness instead of Western medicine, although Alice Coltrane later denied it.
Coltrane's death surprised many in the musical community who were not aware of his condition. Davis said that
"Coltrane's death shocked everyone, took everyone by surprise. I knew he hadn't looked too good... But I didn't know
he was that sick—or even sick at all."[27]
Personal life and religious beliefs

In 1955, Coltrane married Naima (née Juanita Grubbs). Naima Coltrane, who was already a Muslim convert, heavily
influenced his spirituality. When they married, Naima had a five-year-old daughter named Antonia, later named
Saeeda. Coltrane adopted Saeeda. Coltrane met Naima at the home of bassist Steve Davis in Philadelphia. The love
ballad he wrote to honor his wife, "Naima," was Coltrane's favorite composition. In 1956 the couple left Philadelphia
with their six-year-old daughter in tow and moved to New York City. In August 1957, Coltrane, Naima and Saeeda
moved into an apartment on 103rd St. and Amsterdam Ave. in New York. A few years later, John and Naima Coltrane
purchased a home at 116-60 Mexico Street in St. Albans, Queens.[28] This is the house where they would eventually
break up in 1963.[29] About the break up, Naima said in J.C. Thomas's Chasin' the Trane: "I could feel it was going to
happen sooner or later, so I wasn't really surprised when John moved out of the house in the summer of 1963. He
didn't offer any explanation. He just told me there were things he had to do, and he left only with his clothes and his
horns. He stayed in a hotel sometimes, other times with his mother in Philadelphia. All he said was, 'Naima, I'm going
to make a change.' Even though I could feel it coming, it hurt, and I didn't get over it for at least another year." But
Coltrane kept a close relationship with Naima, even calling her in 1964 to tell her that 90% of his playing would be
prayer. Coltrane would be dead in four years, but he always kept in touch with her. Naima brought serenity and a
calmness into his life. All who knew Naima described her gentle spirit and serenity. They remained in touch until his
death in 1967. Naima Coltrane died of a heart attack in October 1996.
Coltrane and Naima were officially divorced in 1966. In 1963, Coltrane met
pianist Alice McLeod.[31] He and Alice moved in together and had two sons
before he was "officially divorced from Naima in 1966, at which time John
and Alice were immediately married."[32] John Jr. was born in 1964, Ravi
in 1965, and Oranyan ("Oran") in 1967.[32] According to the musician and
author Peter Lavezzoli, "Alice brought happiness and stability to John's
life, not only because they had children, but also because they shared many
of the same spiritual beliefs, particularly a mutual interest in Indian
philosophy. Alice also understood what it was like to be a professional
Coltrane's second wife, Alice,
musician."[32]
performed with him and also
challenged his spiritual beliefs[30]
Coltrane was born and raised in a Christian home, and was influenced by
religion and spirituality from childhood. His maternal grandfather, the
Reverend William Blair, was a minister at an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church[33][34] in High Point, North
Carolina, and his paternal grandfather, the Reverend William H. Coltrane, was an A.M.E. Zion minister in Hamlet,
North Carolina.[33] Critic Norman Weinstein noted the parallel between Coltrane's music and his experience in the
southern church,[35] which included practicing music there as a youth.
In 1957, Coltrane had a religious experience that may have helped him overcome the heroin addiction[36][37] and
alcoholism[37] he had struggled with since 1948.[38] In the liner notes of A Love Supreme, Coltrane states that, in 1957,
"I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.
At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music."
The liner notes appear to mention God in a Universalist sense, and do not advocate one religion over another.[39]
Further evidence of this universal view regarding spirituality can be found in the liner notes of Meditations (1965), in
which Coltrane declares, "I believe in all religions."[32]
After A Love Supreme, many of the titles of Coltrane's songs and albums were linked to spiritual matters: Ascension,
Meditations, Om, Selflessness, "Amen", "Ascent", "Attaining", "Dear Lord", "Prayer and Meditation Suite", and "The
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost".[32] Coltrane's collection of books included The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,
the Bhagavad Gita, and Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. The last of these describes, in Lavezzoli's
words, a "search for universal truth, a journey that Coltrane had also undertaken. Yogananda believed that both
Eastern and Western spiritual paths were efficacious, and wrote of the similarities between Krishna and Christ. This
openness to different traditions resonated with Coltrane, who studied the Qur'an, the Bible, Kabbalah, and astrology
with equal sincerity."[40] He also explored Hinduism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, African history, the philosophical teachings
of Plato and Aristotle,[41] and Zen Buddhism.[42]
In October 1965, Coltrane recorded Om, referring to the sacred syllable in Hinduism, which symbolizes the infinite or
the entire Universe. Coltrane described Om as the "first syllable, the primal word, the word of power".[43] The 29-
minute recording contains chants from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita[44] and the Buddhist Tibetan Book of the Dead,[45]
and a recitation of a passage describing the primal verbalization "om" as a cosmic/spiritual common denominator in
all things.
Coltrane's spiritual journey was interwoven with his investigation of world music. He believed in not only a universal
musical structure that transcended ethnic distinctions, but also being able to harness the mystical language of music
itself. Coltrane's study of Indian music led him to believe that certain sounds and scales could "produce specific
emotional meanings." According to Coltrane, the goal of a musician was to understand these forces, control them, and
elicit a response from the audience. Coltrane said: "I would like to bring to people something like happiness. I would
like to discover a method so that if I want it to rain, it will start right away to rain. If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to
play a certain song and he will be cured; when he'd be broke, I'd bring out a different song and immediately he'd
receive all the money he needed."[46]
Religious figure
After Coltrane's death, a congregation called the Yardbird Temple in San Francisco began worshiping him as God
incarnate.[47] The group was named after Charlie Parker, whom they equated to John the Baptist.[47] The congregation
later became affiliated with the African Orthodox Church; this involved changing Coltrane's status from a god to a
saint.[47] The resultant St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, San Francisco, is the only African Orthodox church
that incorporates Coltrane's music and his lyrics as prayers in its liturgy.[48]
Samuel G. Freedman wrote in a New York Times article that "the Coltrane church is not a gimmick or a forced alloy of
nightclub music and ethereal faith. Its message of deliverance through divine sound is actually quite consistent with
Coltrane's own experience and message."[47] Freedman also commented on Coltrane's place in the canon of American
music:
In both implicit and explicit ways, Coltrane also functioned as a

religious figure. Addicted to heroin in the 1950s, he quit cold
turkey, and later explained that he had heard the voice of God
during his anguishing withdrawal. [...] In 1966, an interviewer in
Japan asked Coltrane what he hoped to be in five years, and
Coltrane replied, "A saint."[47]
Coltrane is depicted as one of the 90 saints in the Dancing Saints icon of St.
Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. The icon is a 3,000-
square-foot (280 m2) painting in the Byzantine iconographic style that wraps
around the entire church rotunda. It was executed by Mark Dukes, an
ordained deacon at the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, who Coltrane icon at St. John
Coltrane African Orthodox
painted other icons of Coltrane for the Coltrane Church.[49] Saint Barnabas
Church
Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey, included Coltrane on their list of
historical black saints and made a "case for sainthood" for him in an article on
their former website.[50]
Documentaries on Coltrane and the church include Alan Klingenstein's The Church of Saint Coltrane (1996),[51][52]
and a 2004 program presented by Alan Yentob for the BBC.[53]
Instruments
In 1947, when he joined King Kolax's band, Coltrane switched to tenor saxophone, the instrument he became known
for playing primarily.[1] Coltrane's preference for playing melody higher on the range of the tenor saxophone (as
compared to, for example, Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young) is attributed to his start and training on the alto horn
and clarinet; his "sound concept" (manipulated in one's vocal tract—tongue, throat) of the tenor was set higher than
the normal range of the instrument.[54]
In the early 1960s, during his engagement with Atlantic Records, he increasingly played soprano saxophone as well.[1]
Toward the end of his career, he experimented with flute in his live performances and studio recordings (Live at the
Village Vanguard Again!, Expression). After Dolphy died in June 1964, his mother is reported to have given Coltrane
his flute and bass clarinet.[55]
Coltrane's tenor (Selmer Mark VI, serial number 125571, dated 1965) and soprano (Selmer Mark VI, serial number
99626, dated 1962) saxophones were auctioned on February 20, 2005 to raise money for the John Coltrane
Foundation. The soprano raised $70,800 but the tenor remained unsold.[56]
Legacy
The influence Coltrane has had on music spans many genres and musicians. Coltrane's massive influence on jazz, both
mainstream and avant-garde, began during his lifetime and continued to grow after his death. He is one of the most
dominant influences on post-1960 jazz saxophonists and has inspired an entire generation of jazz musicians.
In 1965, Coltrane was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1972, A Love Supreme was certified gold by
the RIAA for selling over half a million copies in Japan. This album, as well as My Favorite Things, was certified gold
in the United States in 2001. In 1982 he was awarded a posthumous Grammy for "Best Jazz Solo Performance" on the
album Bye Bye Blackbird, and in 1997 he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[18] In 2002, scholar
Molefi Kete Asante named Coltrane one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.[57] Coltrane was awarded a special
Pulitzer Prize in 2007 citing his "masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of
jazz."[2] He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[58]
His widow, Alice Coltrane, after several decades of seclusion, briefly

regained a public profile before her death in 2007. A former home, the
John Coltrane House in Philadelphia, was designated a National Historic
Landmark in 1999. His last home, the John Coltrane Home in the Dix Hills
district of Huntington, New York, where he resided from 1964 until his
death, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 29,
2007. One of their sons, Ravi Coltrane, named after the sitarist Ravi
Shankar, is also a saxophonist.
The Coltrane family reportedly possesses much more unreleased music, John Coltrane House, 1511 North
mostly mono reference tapes made for the saxophonist, and, as with the Thirty-third Street, Philadelphia
1995 release Stellar Regions, master tapes that were checked out of the
studio and never returned. The parent company of Impulse!, from 1965 to
1979 known as ABC Records, purged much of its unreleased material in the 1970s.[59] Lewis Porter has stated that
Alice Coltrane intended to release this music, but over a long period of time; Ravi Coltrane is responsible for reviewing
the material.
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, is a 2016 American film directed by John Scheinfeld. Narrated by
Denzel Washington, the film chronicles the life of Coltrane in his own words, and includes interviews with such
admirers as Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, Bill Clinton, and Cornel West.[60]
Discography
The discography below lists albums conceived and approved by Coltrane as a leader during his lifetime. It does not
include his many releases as a sideman, sessions assembled into albums by various record labels after Coltrane's
contract expired, sessions with Coltrane as a sideman later reissued with his name featured more prominently, or
posthumous compilations, except for the one he approved before his death. See main discography link above for full
list.
Prestige and Blue Note Records

Coltrane (debut solo LP) (1957)
Blue Train (1957)
John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio (1958)
Soultrane (1958)
Atlantic Records
Giant Steps (first album entirely of Coltrane compositions) (1960)
Coltrane Jazz (first appearance by McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones) (1961)
My Favorite Things (1961)
Olé Coltrane (features Eric Dolphy, compositions by Coltrane and Tyner) (1961)
Impulse! Records
Africa/Brass (brass arranged by Tyner and Dolphy) (1961)
Live! at the Village Vanguard (features Dolphy, first appearance by Jimmy Garrison) (1962)
Coltrane (first album to solely feature the "classic quartet") (1962)
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1963)
Ballads (1963)
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963)
Impressions (1963)
Live at Birdland (1964)
Crescent (1964)
A Love Supreme (1965)
The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (1965)
Ascension (quartet plus six horns and bass, one 40' track collective improvisation) (1966)
New Thing at Newport (live album split with Archie Shepp) (1966)
Kulu Sé Mama (1966)
Meditations (quartet plus Pharoah Sanders and Rashied Ali) (1966)
Live at the Village Vanguard Again! (1966)
Expression (posthumous and final Coltrane-approved release; one track features Coltrane on flute) (1967)
Sessionography
Notes
1. John Coltrane (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-coltrane-mn0000175553). allmusic
2. "The 2007 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Special Awards and Citations" (http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2007-Special-Aw
ards-and-Citations). The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved June 29, 2009. With reprint of short biography.
3. DeVito et al., p. 1
6. Group, The Jazz Sipper (2013-03-13). The History of Jazz and the Jazz Musicians (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=nNZQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT187&lpg=PT187&dq=He+grew+up+in+High+Point,+North+Carolina,+attending+
William+Penn+High+School&source=bl&ots=t41UV-8B6v&sig=6IOr42LZm9WwjPxyuBPP7sbiz0E&hl=en&sa=X&
ved=0ahUKEwjsp5-GhbvRAhXI2SYKHXKFACwQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=He%20grew%20up%20in%20High%2
0Point,%20North%20Carolina,%20attending%20William%20Penn%20High%20School&f=false). Lulu Press, Inc.
ISBN 9781257544486.
7. Porter, pp. 15–17
9. "Orlando Style Magazine July/August 2016 Issue" (https://issuu.com/styletome/docs/osm). issuu. Retrieved
2017-01-11.
10. Porter, Lewis (1998-01-01). John Coltrane: His Life and Music (https://books.google.com/books?id=nE2fAAAAMA
AJ&q=manana+barracks+coltrane&dq=manana+barracks+coltrane&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijo6CzpLvRAhU
GVyYKHRYRBScQ6AEIGzAA). University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472101610.
11. Ratliff, Ben (2008-10-28). Coltrane: The Story of a Sound (https://books.google.com/books?id=K3WNFheF9ycC&
pg=PT12&lpg=PT12&dq=coltrane+melody+masters&source=bl&ots=9YKE7hx4NV&sig=wfY3Vqp0w3cp8v3re5ib
2gJ2ksg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi22ZqRjbvRAhVK8CYKHUp7C3oQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=coltrane%20
melody%20masters&f=false). Macmillan. ISBN 9781429998628.
13. DeVito et al., pp. 367–368
14. Porter, Lewis. John Coltrane: His Life and Music Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1999. ISBN 0-472-10161-7
15. Wilson, Joe. "Musically Speaking." The Mananan 30 Oct. 1945: 7
16. The History of Jazz and the Jazz Musicians - The Jazz Sipper Group (https://books.google.com/books?id=nNZQ
CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT188&lpg=PT188&dq=downbeat+%22the+first+time+I+heard+Bird+play,+it+hit+me+right+betw
een+the+eyes.%22&source=bl&ots=t41UV-hG6z&sig=8RLGgNaF_Q88G2h7-BEOE728Ko4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0
ahUKEwjMrfm5qLvRAhUI4SYKHaEQA1MQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q=downbeat%20%22the%20first%20time%2
0I%20heard%20Bird%20play%2C%20it%20hit%20me%20right%20between%20the%20eyes.%22&f=false).
Books.google.com. 2013-03-13. p. 188. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
17. Alexander, Leslie M.; Jr, Walter C. Rucker (2010-02-09). Encyclopedia of African American History [3 volumes] (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id=uivtCqOlpTsC&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=during+this+time+Coltrane+also+be
gan+playing+tenor+saxophone+with+the+Eddie+Vinson+Band.+C&source=bl&ots=3dhyr6HzBn&sig=cmtc454t5
GNGqc6IcDecEdrPlZ8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid0t3ap7vRAhVBLyYKHeLgB14Q6AEIMzAD#v=onepage&q
=during%20this%20time%20Coltrane%20also%20began%20playing%20tenor%20saxophone%20with%20the%2
0Eddie%20Vinson%20Band.%20C&f=false). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851097746.
18. "John Coltrane Biography" (http://www.johncoltrane.com/biography.html). The John Coltrane Foundation. May 11,
2007. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
19. Armstrong, Rob (February 8, 2013). "There Was No End to the Music" (http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/02/there-w
as-no-end-to-the-music/). Hidden City Philadelphia. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
20. Ratliff, Ben (2007). Coltrane: The Story of a Sound. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12606-2.
21. Corbett, John. "John Gilmore: The Hard Bop Homepage". Down Beat.
22. Kofsky, Frank (1970). Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music: John Coltrane: An Interview. Pathfinder
Press. p. 235.
23. Nisenson, p. 179
24. Porter, pp. 265–266.
25. Mandel, Howard (January 30, 2008). "John Coltrane: Divine Wind" (https://web.archive.org/web/2009092901071
4/http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/539/?pageno=5). The Wire (221). Archived from the original (http://www.thewir
e.co.uk/articles/539/?pageno=5) on September 29, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
26. Porter, p. 292
27. Porter, p. 290
28. Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Wild, David; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; and Shmaler, Wolf (2013). "The John Coltrane
Reference" (https://books.google.com/books?id=IvlVu9XCoxUC&pg=PA323&lpg=PA323&dq=john+coltrane+st.+a
lbans+mexico&source=bl&ots=t1EL2qtAM1&sig=lL-VhTdyBj0zSYcAIeuA5wB9HGM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKE
wjQ3qLqiO_YAhUEQ60KHYRFCo8Q6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=john%20coltrane%20st.%20albans%20mexico&f
=false). Routledge. p. 323. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
29. "John Coltrane: Naima" (http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/06/john-coltrane-naima.html). JazzWax.com. 2009-06-15.
Retrieved 2017-01-16.
30. Jenkins, Todd S. (2004). "The Path to Freedom (https://books.google.com/books?id=uYzb_q_xKDgC&lpg=PR1&p
g=PR56#v=onepage&q&f=false)". Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. Greenwood
Publishing Group. ISBN 0313333149.
31. Lavezzoli, p. 281
33. Porter, pp. 5–6
35. Weinstein, Norman C. (1993) A Night in Tunisia: Imaginings of Africa in Jazz, Hal Leonard Corporation, p. 61,
ISBN 0-87910-167-9
36. Porter, p. 61
38. Lavezzoli, pp. 272–273
39. John Coltrane's liner notes to A Love Supreme, December 1964 (http://www.jindustry.com/xtra/coltrane/html/saintj
ohn.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110608155911/http://www.jindustry.com/xtra/coltrane/html/saint
john.html) June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
41. Emmett G. Price III. "John Coltrane, "A Love Supreme" and GOD" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090103101749/
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/coltrane/article_003.htm). allaboutjazz.com. Archived from the original (http://www.all
aboutjazz.com/coltrane/article_003.htm) on January 3, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
43. Porter, p. 265
44. Lavezzoli, p. 285: "Coltrane and one or two other musicians begin and end the piece by chanting in unison a
verse from chapter nine ("The Yoga of Mysticism") of the Bhagavad Gita: Rites that the Vedas ordain, and the
rituals taught by the scriptures: all these I am, and the offering made to the ghosts of the fathers, herbs of healing
and food, the mantram, the clarified butter. I the oblation, and I the flame into which it is offered. I am the sire of
the world, and this world's mother and grandsire. I am he who awards to each the fruit of his action. I make all
things clean. I am Om!"
45. Nisenson, p. 183
46. Porter, p. 211
47. Samuel G. Freedman (December 1, 2007) "Sunday Religion, Inspired by Saturday Nights" (https://www.nytimes.c
om/2007/12/01/us/01religion.html), New York Times.
48. Article "The Jazz Church" (http://elvispelvis.com/jazzchurch.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060812
213403/http://elvispelvis.com/jazzchurch.htm) August 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. by Gordon Polatnick at
www.elvispelvis.com
49. The Dancing Saints (http://www.saintgregorys.org/worship/art_section/243/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20101218030246/http://www.saintgregorys.org/worship/art_section/243) December 18, 2010, at the Wayback
Machine.. Saint Gregory's of Nyssa Episcopal Church
50. " "John Coltrane The Case for Sainthood" " (https://web.archive.org/web/20090510123849/http://www.forministry.c
om/USNJECUSASBECS/SaintJohnColtrane.dsp). Archived from the original on May 10, 2009. Retrieved
2011-04-03. . St. Barnabas Episcopal Church website.
51. "The Church of Saint Coltrane (1996)" (https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/436615/The-Church-of-Saint-Coltrane/o
verview). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
52. "Alan Klingenstein" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151222203656/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-klingenstei
n/). Huffington Post. 2008-02-05. Archived from the original (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-klingenstein) on
December 22, 2015. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
53. 2004 BBC documentary (http://www.diverse.tv/programme.aspx?id=67) on the Saint John Coltrane African
Orthodox Church at www.diverse.tv
54. "Secret of John Coltrane's high notes revealed" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3324621/Secre
t-of-John-Coltranes-high-notes-revealed.html), Roger Highfield, The Telegraph, Sunday June 12, 2011
55. Cole, Bill (2001). John Coltrane. New York. p. 158. ISBN 030681062X.
56. "John Coltrane's Saxophones/ Benefit Auction /see description below" (http://drrick.com/trane/trane.htm).
drrick.com. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
57. Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, New York.
Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8.
58. "2009 Inductees" (http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/). North Carolina
Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
59. "ABC-Paramount Records Story" (http://www.bsnpubs.com/abc/abcstory.html), by David Edwards, Patrice Eyries,
and Mike Callahan, Both Sides Now website, retrieved January 29, 2007.
60. McNary, Dave (March 16, 2017). "John Coltrane Documentary 'Chasing Trane' Gets Release Date" (https://variet
y.com/2017/film/festivals/john-coltrane-documentary-chasing-trane-release-date-1202010181/). Variety.
ISSN 0042-2738 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0042-2738).
References
DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge.
ISBN 0-415-97755-X.
Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group.
ISBN 0-8264-1815-5.
Nisenson, Eric (1995). Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80644-4.
Porter, Lewis (1999). John Coltrane: His Life and Music. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08643-X.
Further reading
Baham III, Nicholas (2015) [2015]. The Coltrane Church: Apostles of Sound, Agents of Social Justice. McFarland.
ISBN 0786494964.
Kahn, Ashley (2003) [2002]. A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album. Elvin Jones.
Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-200352-2.
Simpkins, Cuthbert (1989) [1975]. Coltrane: A Biography. New York: Herndon House Publishers. ISBN 0-915542-
82-X.
Thomas, J.C. (1975). Chasin' the Trane. New York: Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80043-8.
Woideck, Carl (1998). The John Coltrane Companion. New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-02-864790-4.
Peter Jan Margry & Daniel Wojcik, 'A Saxophone Divine. The Transformative Power of Saint John Coltrane's Jazz
Music in San Francisco's Fillmore District', in: V. Hegner and P.J. Margry (editors), Spiritualizing the City: Agency
and Resilience of the Urban and Urbanesque Habitat (Milton Park: Routledge, 2017) 169-194.
External links
Official website (http://www.johncoltrane.com)
Bibliowiki has original media or text related to this article: John Coltrane (in the public domain in Canada)
John Coltrane (https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126870) at Encyclopædia Britannica
John Coltrane (https://curlie.org/Arts/Music/Styles/J/Jazz/Bands_and_Artists/Saxophonists/Coltrane%2C_John/)
at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
John Coltrane (https://www.discogs.com/artist/John+Coltrane) discography at Discogs
"John Coltrane" (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218). Find a Grave. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
John Coltrane (http://www.infography.com/content/736735270236.html) infography
John Coltrane (http://www.mossiehigh.com/Coltrane) discography
John Coltrane House (http://www.johncoltranehouse.org) site
Coltrane Church Website (http://www.coltranechurch.org) site
John Coltrane (http://www.colby.edu/music/honors/Bertholf.pdf) 1957 Carnegie Hall performance in transcription
and analysis
John Coltrane (http://jazztimes.com/articles/24832-john-coltrane-images-of-trane) Images of Trane by Lee Tanner
in Jazz Times, June 1997
John Coltrane (https://lccn.loc.gov/n50031907) at Library of Congress Authorities, with 220 catalog records
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2/13/2018 John Coltrane - Wikipedia

As his career progressed, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly

Legacy Genres Avant-garde jazz ·

Miles and Monk period (1955–1957)

Davis and Coltrane

Period with Atlantic Records (1959–1961)

Coltrane formed his first quartet for live performances in

First years with Impulse Records (1961–1962)

During this period, critics were fiercely divided in their estimation

Classic Quartet period (1962–1965)

Avant-garde jazz and the second quartet (1965–1967)

In his late period, Coltrane showed an increasing interest in avant-garde

Adding to the quartet

Death and funeral

Personal life and religious beliefs

In both implicit and explicit ways, Coltrane also functioned as a

His widow, Alice Coltrane, after several decades of seclusion, briefly

Prestige and Blue Note Records

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Coltrane&oldid=825298389"

This page was last edited on 12 February 2018, at 16:28.

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