Date:	08-Feb-2001 18:55:45
From:	Sonny Clark (www.sonnysax.com)
	I was playing clarinet as a music major at Mesa College in San Diego. I was captvated by a Miles Davis album - The Best Of... I think was the title. The cuts that I listened to most - Someday My Prince Will Come, 'Round Midnight ( I think Tranes solo is untouchable ). Then I happened to pick up A Love Supreme. This was 1971. I bought a tenor sax soon after that. I was 21. I'm 50 now and still playing because of the spiritual slap in the face I got from that album.

 

Date:	02-Mar-2001 04:45:27
From:	Mirko Caserta (ik0zsn@katamail.com)
	Once I tried to transcribe Giant Steps' solo because it sounded so beautifully and what did I find? He's completely inside the basic harmony, apart a couple of weird notes of course, but he's basically playing bebop. That guy is amazing. One of the few cats who have said something really new after Bird. Thanks John for your full dedication to music.

 

Date:	02-Mar-2001 12:31:21
From:	Chris LaRoche (cronoss@sclegacy.com)
	I am an 18 year-old jazz trumpet player and writer. I am a recent newcomer to Trane, however, my sudden incredible interest in his music had led me to purchase well over 20 of albums in the last six months. I've been exposed to Coltrane my entire life, and played Coltrane tunes at gigs when I was no more than 13, however, until recently, the importance and sheer brilliance of the man and his music had never come into full light. Coltrane defies classification. A lot of what he has done I wouldn't even claddify under Jazz; the connotation of the musical category is too light a name for Coltrane. He simply makes the most energetic and powerful music that any Tenor Saxophone player has ever recorded, and perhaps of any Jazz musician. I got into Coltrane off of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue - and subsequently all the other Coltrane-Davis recordings on Prestige and Columbia. At first I thought his sound was ugly, but his harmonic explorations on KOB and other records put him - in my mind - above the 'blah' of other tenors as standing out with a unique voice. At the time, I didn't like the sound of the saxophone, and didn't explore Coltrane any further. Sometime after, as my Davis collection grew to the point where I began to having to special order CD's from the local major record store, which has a reasonably limited Jazz collection. I soon bought Impressions, and shortly thereafter began to explore Coltrane's later music, Ascension, Om, Kulu Se Mama, Sun Ship, Interstellar Space, etc. Originally baffled by this 'anti-jazz', I could sense something greast within it, but alas, at the time, I couldn't sit through more than 20 minutes of any of it before having to take a break. Over time, I've come to love late Coltrane and how refreshingly unique it is from the rest of Jazz. A Love Supreme is my personal favorite album of all time, and I feel filled with light everytime I listen to it. At first all I thought of it was good saxophony, however, after repeated listening I became captivated by the sheer emotional value of the music. I am not a religious man, however, the way Coltrane appraches this monument to God is so enchanting and powerful that it truly makes me believe in some higher purpose; that music so beautiful and gripping could not be wrong. A Love Supreme isn't music for music's sake, or money's sake, it is music for the sake of the Human Condition. And that is why it is the most powerful music of all. I am currently studying Music, History, Philosophy, English, Sociology and Social Anthropology (Major in History) at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I am exploring Coltrane's eariler works as well as trying to expand my knowledge of this searching musician as fast and deep as possible.

 

Date:	15-Mar-2001 20:24:01
From:	Gerard Cox (stacked4th@hotmail.com)
	The significance of Coltrane for me musically is that he was obviously so critical to expanding the meaning of jazz outward towards having a more universal outlook and a more universal sound. I dig bebop, blues, standards, but Coltrane really broke down a huge barrier in my mind as far as leading jazz away from any unnecessary parochial restraints in the repertoire and the "jazz aesthetic". I think before Coltrane musicians felt the need to pay homage to popular song and to see jazz as part of an "American" scene, an American aesthetic. I think a lot of cats saw the music as inherently connoting certain aesthetic qualities that you had to represent in your sound- kind of like Wynton's definition of jazz which emphasizes swing, blues, and popular song over all other factors. Coltrane comes along and argues effectively for the essence of Jazz being its approach to creating music, not its aesthetic sensibility per se. In line with this Trane sees where other cultures already had certain "jazz" approaches to music. Totally different aesthetics than the jazz "tradition" obviously, but I think Trane correctly understood the essence of jazz despite the "selfish" associations of it, was- the soloist. Jazz represents fundamentally the freedom of the soloist, the ability of an individual musician to have center stage with his/her unique take on the form of a piece of music. I'd say in fact Coltrane perceived in jazz more of a folk music ethos at its heart= where what is deemed most important is the intensity and the passion of solo improvisation. Indeed, on this note I believe that Coltrane had more in common fundamentally with the Celtic harpist, the Indian sitar player, the African kora player, than he did with say- the swing or bebop players who preceded his "jazz" innovations. These solo musicians may be bound to a certain musical tradition more so than any jazz musicians have been, but the allowance they give themselves to express deep feeling and raptured intensity is greater than what the more traditional jazz players did I believe. So Coltrane opens things up in a drastic way for the freedom of the soloist. Group interaction is still imperative, but now its OK to take things out and even to zone out, tune out, on a solo, because again= that's what people are listening for in the ultimate sense. The form, the tune, is the conversation piece, and the solos are the (potentially) great lines of conversation. Jazz has always had great conversationalists to be sure, but with Coltrane is begun the presence of that jazz musician who is more willing to be emotionally intimate and intense, more willing to be expressive in a deeply personal way. This is why, indeed, Trane is one of those rare musicians who sounds like he's playing directly to you. Nothing is held back in the communicative aspect of his music. He's not trying to be "sophisticated", "cool", "a bad dude", none of that- it's just "expression" plain and simple. Of course when I speak of Trane I mean Trane in what he evolved into, not what he was originally. I'd say originally he played partially to impress. He most definitely grew out of that...anybody who thinks he's playing all of those notes on the Impulse records just to impress isn't hearing the raw emotion there. Finally, along with realizing more of a folk improvisors mentality Coltrane also brought some folk music back into the music (blues had always been in the music). Coltrane, along with a number of other cats in the 60s began checking out ethnic musics and international sounds. While he wasn't alone in going back to African roots and checking out Indian music, he was very unique in playing folk forms like Greensleeves and Chim Chim Cheree. Very simple music, but Trane made it work in "jazz" because he saw the opportunity it offered the improvisor to exploit the broadness therein. Coltrane brings it all home for me- he says more strongly than any other jazz musician that jazz is at bottom a universal sound and a universal approach. It is far less parochial music of any established aesthetic qualities than it is a fundamental way of providing the maximum freedom to the individual soloist while still having a cohesive group sound. The only real difference then between jazz and a folk music where there is improvisation, like a Balkan ensemble, is that the progressive spirit of Jazz prevents it from becoming rigid in its conventions, despite what people like Wynton will say. In closing I'll adapt Blood Ulmer's mantra to suggest what Trane means succinctly to me as a musician: "Jazz is the teacher, Trane is the preacher." Jazz offers the musician a fine platform for expressive improvisation, and Coltrane shows you just how expressive you can be upon this platform.

 

Date:	17-Mar-2001 17:11:28
From:	Gerard Cox (stacked4th@hotmail.com)
	Many musicians and fans alike cite "A Love Supreme" as being his most influential record, but I have to say there's one Trane record which I feel has more depth and nuance than even A Love Supreme, not to take anything away from that record at all. This is "Expression." It's not usually mentioned as being one of his most captivating records, but MAN- it really does it for me. It's clearly submerged into the later period and maybe that's why it's not so mentioned...But this record is varied and there's one cut, "Offering", which I will contend rivals "Acknowledgement" in its strong celestial and spiritual overtones...It is one of the most beautiful Coltrane pieces in my opinion, and mainly because the beauty is earned here- you have to endure tension and some darkness before a sweet crescendo comes to pass. "Expression" is very beautiful also, but is played more on an even keel throughout (less tension build-up). There's also a cut on here in which Trane plays flute (Along with Pharoah, who is aboard just for that track)= this is a fascinating piece in my view. It shows the whole musicianship of Trane- he sounds so gentle, so thoughtful, so CONSCIOUS of everything... For those of you who haven't gotten to know this record, please check it out ASAP. If you have reservations about later period Trane this is the one that harkens the most back to A Love Supreme...there is not extended darkness or angst here...everything comes out of the tunnel before it is too late. Trane really brings it all home here. Finally, the reason this record is so influential for me as musician is that it is a statement record like A Love Supreme but there is more emotional depth in my mind. Again, to take nothing away from A Love Supreme, it's just here Trane confronts a greater range of feelings...there's darkness and the light, and always the descent or ascent between. As such, this is an incredibly moving record which has a totally powerful human feeling to it. It's what myself and a lot of other musicians strive for- to create a statement that accurately reflects the nature of human experience. There is light, there is darkness, and there is everything in between... To fulfill that range in an encapsulated form is a tremendous challenge for any musician and yet Trane does it here and on a few other notable records in the most exemplary way. Moreover, it never sounds affected; it always seems genuinely organic. A testament to his own human-ness and ability to experience feelings I suppose... -What was it that he knew that nobody else did?

 

Date:	20-Mar-2001 15:02:31
From:	reuben jackson (jacksonre@nmah.si.edu)
	im not a musician in the sense the previous contributors are, but the passion, spirituality and invention present in the work of john coltrane has influenced my entire life. it is indeed a "conscious" artistry-one which, like his life, strove to present the highest good. who can argue with that? peace.

 

Date:	18-Apr-2001 14:51:10
From:	Juan Alzate (aljazz57@LatinMail.com)
	Until very recent time, I could understand many of the music of John Coltrane, thanks in part to Jerry Bergonzi and David Liebman lessons and books, but to me, most than the music is the spiritual thing, to me, the Coltrane music is so deep thanks to his inner vision, his contact with himself and in consecuense with God and he gave to us a brilliant light to pursue. In any sense.

 

Date:	10-May-2001 15:59:42
From:	Travis Sullivan (t.sullivan@mailcity.com)
	I always find myself going back to the music of John Coltrane. For me, he has always been a doorway into the beauty and lyricism of jazz. I started listening to Coltrane in high school. A friend of mine had "Interstellar Space" and the last volume of "The Best of John Coltrane on Impulse" which had selections from "Om" and "Kulu Se Mama." We didn't know what the hell we were listening to, but I could feel the energy and the freedom...and I was hooked. It wasn't until a few years after that that I began really checking out what he was doing with Miles...and that sent me on a whole new direction in my playing. His phrasing, time, and harmonic/melodic directness when playing is so beautiful! The biggest impact that his music had on my playing was when I decided to transcribe his solo on "Summertime" from "My Favorite Things". It was the most challenging solo I've ever transcribed because he is really flying throughout the entire solo...there are a lot of notes to get down. From learning that solo and getting it under my fingers, I went to another level of saxophone playing. I don't want to sound like Trane, but having a little bit of him in my playing certainly doesn't hurt!