John William Coltrane (nicknamed ‘Trane’) is born on 23 September 1926 in Hamlet (North Carolina, U.S.) and he died on 17 July 1967 in Huntington (New York, U.S.). He played clarinet and tenor in a local marching band. Later, he switched to saxophone. After high school, he found work in a sugar refinery to supplement the family’s income, which had by now moved to Philadelphia.
1940s
On his 17de birthday, he was given a saxophone. June 1945 was an important moment in his career; it was then that he first heard Charlie Parker play, about which he later said, “the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.”
In the army, his musical talent was soon discovered, and he joined the Melody Masters, the swing band at his base in Hawai. His first record recording was in 1946, where he played several jazz standards and bebop songs. Back in Philadelphia, thanks to a scholarship, he took courses in music theory and saxophone. While playing in various bands, he continued to practice fanatically.
1950s
Meanwhile, Charlie Parker had also discovered his talent and Coltrane regularly played with him as a freelancer, as did Dizzie Gillespie and Johnny Hodges. In 1955, Miles Davis invited him to join his quintet when it was coming back from his heroin addiction. With this quintet, Coltrane recorded the albums Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’and Steamin’ (with the Miles Davis Quintet).
From ‘Relaxin’, you can listen here to a live performance in Zurich by Coltrane and Davis in ‘If I Were a Bell’. The recording dates from 1961.
The quintet ceased to exist after several years, now because of Coltrane’s heroin addiction.
In 1957, Coltrane teams up with Thelonius Monk, but due to various contractual obligations, a joint album never materialised. Only in 2005, a good recording of a concert in November 1957 surfaced and an album was produced after all: ‘Thelonius Monk Quartet With John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall’. This album was highly acclaimed. Newsweek spoke of the “musical equivalent of the discovery of a new Mount Everest”. The album shows how Monk gives all the space to Coltrane and subtly supports his solos. Listen to ‘Sweet and Lovely'(1957):
In 1957, Coltrane resumes collaboration with Miles Davis, who perfected the style he had already practised with Monk, i.e. rapid succession of notes, fitting within a predefined sequence of chords. At this time, Daves’ albums ‘Milestones’ and ‘Kind of Blue’ were also recorded.
1960s
Free jazz
In the early 1960s, Coltrane recorded the album ‘Giant Steps’ (1960). In the history of jazz, this album rivals Davis’ Kind of Blue’. This album has a trickier sequence of patterns of notes than any jazz song. Listening to the title track ‘Giant steps’ while watching an animation of the notes flying by is fascinating. ‘Giant steps’ is compulsory practice material for conservatory students.
Of a very different nature is ‘Naima‘, a tone poem dedicated to his wife. This also applies to two other songs referring to family members: ‘Cousin Mary’ and Syeeda’s Song Flute’, dedicated to his stepdaughter. Watch and listen to the latter song. Played here by the Colorado State University Jazz Ensemble:
A recording like this gives a good idea of what the song sounds like on the record. The difference, of course, is that the song on the album is largely improvised and this version is a transcription of it.
Coltrane forms his first quartet now, later quintet. Its first record was ‘My Favorite Things‘ (1965), on which he plays soprano saxophone. The group plays regularly at the famous jazz club ‘Village Vanguard’ in New York and develops increasingly towards ‘free jazz’. This is evident in one of the most frequently played pieces, ‘Chasin’ the Trane’ (1961). Later, Coltrane added a second bass player to get a deeper pulsating foundation. You can hear that on the albums Olé Coltrane’ (1961), ‘Africa/Africa/Brass’(1961). This song is played here by Archie Shepp and the Hessische Rundfunk Bigband. The beauty of this arrangement is that a second bass player has also been added to this orchestra and the timbre is made extra massive by four (!) tubas.
Of slightly later date are ‘The John Coltrane Quartet Plays’ (1965) and ‘Ascension’ (1965). You watch and listen to part of this album here.
A middle ground?
Many critics were decidedly negative about Coltrane’s development. They spoke of ‘anti-jazz’ and fellow musicians, including Miles Davis, also disliked it. Coltrane took this criticism to heart and the style of the ‘Classic Quartet’, as it was called, becomes more harmonic. This is especially evident in the albums ‘Ballads‘(1961).
In live performances, he continues to push the boundaries between jazz standards and more free forms of jazz. This is evident on albums such as ‘Impressions’ (1963), ‘Live at Birdland’ (1963) and ‘Newport‘(1963). You can watch and listen to ‘I want to talk about you’, from the latter album, here.
Spiritual inspiration
In 1964, the ‘Classic Quartet’ produced its bestseller, ‘A Love Supreme’. This work is an ode to Coltrane’s love for and belief in God. For this, Coltrane thoroughly immersed himself in the writings of various religions. His spiritual inspiration is continued in other albums, such as ‘Ascention‘ (1965), ‘Om‘ (1965) and ‘Meditations‘ (1966) . ‘Om’ is main symbol of Hinduism and refers to the infinity of the universe.
In these albums, Coltrane deepened his commitment to avant-garde jazz, inspired by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Sun Ra. He asked Pharoah Sanders to join the quartet and attracted a second drummer. Other members of the quartet could no longer follow Coltrane’s path and left the band.
Cosmic transcendence
With his new group, Coltrane plays long versions of earlier work, sometimes up to 30 minutes. Some concerts have been recorded: ‘Live at the Village Vanguard Again! (1966) and ‘Live in Japan’. Studio recordings appeared on ‘Expression‘ and ‘Interstellar space’(without Sanders).
Death
Coltrane died unexpectedly of liver cancer at the age of 40, after which the African Orthodox Church canonised him. Coltrane is depicted as one of the saints on and 280m2 icon – the ‘Dancing Saints’- in St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco.
Coltrane’s sons continue his musical work. I end with a song taken from the album ‘Expression’, played by Ravi Coltrane’s quartet in 2008.
‘Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary’ is a 2016 film directed by John Scheinfeld. You can watch it here
Music: Listen, Look and Enjoy 