John Coltrane was a famous saxophonist, born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, died July 17, 1967 at Huntington Hospital in Long Island, NY. Coltrane grew up in High Point NC, moving to Philadelphia PA in June 1943. He was inducted into the Navy in 1945, returning to civilian life in 1946. Coltrane worked a variety of jobs through the late forties until (still an alto saxophonist) he joined Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1949. He stayed with Gillespie through the band's breakup in May 1950 and (now on tenor saxophone) worked with Gillespie's small group until April 1951, when he returned to Philadelphia to go to school.
In early 1952 he joined Earl Bostic's band, and in 1953, after a stint with Eddie Vinson, he joined Johnny Hodges's small group (during that saxophonist's short sabbatical from Duke Ellington's orchestra), staying until mid 1954.
Although there are recordings of Coltrane from as early as 1946, his real career spans the twelve years between 1955 and 1967, during which time he reshaped modern jazz and influenced generations of other musicians. Coltrane was freelancing in Philadelphia in the summer of 1955 when he received a call from trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis, whose success during the late forties had been followed by several years of decline, was again active, and was about to form a quintet. Coltrane was with this first edition of the Davis group from October 1955 through April 1957 (with a few absences), a period which saw influential recordings from Davis and the first signs of Coltrane's growing ability. This classic First Quintet, best represented by two marathon recording sessions for Prestige in 1956, disbanded in mid-April.
During the latter part of 1957 Coltrane worked with Thelonious Monk at New York's Five Spot, a legendary gig. He rejoined Miles in January 1958, staying until April 1960, during which time he participated in such seminal Davis sessions as Milestones and Kind Of Blue, and recorded his own influential sessions (notably A Love Supreme, Blue Train and Giant Steps).
In his middle years Coltrane came under the influences of both the modal approach taken by Miles and the music of Ravi Shankar, whose association with The Beatles had brought him to prominence in the United States.
Coltrane formed a quartet including pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones
A Love Supreme is a lyrical suite of four pieces based around simple bass figures and chants. He quickly developed a rugged, sometimes aggressive freewheeling style, however, which had all the density of a track like Giant Steps but none of its formal strictures. His playing sounds compressed, as if whole solos pass in a few seconds, with triple- or quadruple-time runs cascading in what critics sometimes refer to as "sheets of sound".
Coltrane's late period music showed an increasing interest in the free jazz pionered by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and others. Tyner and Jones eventually resigned from the group, dissatisfied with the changing sound of Coltrane's music.
Although the music of this period can sometimes sound hectoring and bad-tempered, and not all of it is of even quality, many recordings -- among them Interstellar Space, Ascension and the posthumous Stellar Regions -- are crucial documents in the development of free jazz and are important in Coltrane's development.
Coltrane's recording rate was astonishingly prolific: He released about fifty recorings as a leader in twelve years, and appeared on dozens more led by other musicians.
Coltrane's footsteps have been followed by his son, Ravi Coltrane, as a saxophonist.
