Coltrane, John 1926-1967

COLTRANE, JOHN 1926-1967

Jazz saxophonist

A Link between Styles

The career of John Coltrane, one of the most influential jazz saxophonists of the 1960s and after, bridges the mature bebop of the 1950s and the experimental developments of the late 1960s.

Sheets of Sound

Coltrane played with bebop masters Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk during the 1950s before starting his own quartet in 1960. Composed of Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, the group allowed Coltrane to expand on the melodic and harmonic possibilities of jazz. Coltrane's music from this period, usually described as consisting of "sheets of sound," was both structurally complex and emotionally rich, including long improvisations, unorthodox chords, and elements of Eastern music. The effect was popular with many jazz fans, particularly on Coltrane's famous version of "My Favorite Things" (1961).

Innovations Cut Short

In 1966, impressed with Ornette Coleman's experiments in free jazz that evaded conventional harmonic structure altogether, Coltrane went in a new direction to explore the new sound. Although he died of cancer the following year, Coltrane has remained a major influence for many young musicians, who revere him as one of the great performers of jazz.

Sources:

William Shadrack Cole, John Coltrane (New York: Schirmer, 1976);

Cuthbert Ormond Simpkins, Coltrane: A Biography (New York: Herndon House, 1975);

J. C. Thomas, Chasinthe Trane: The Music and Mystique of John Coltrane (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1975).