Jazz Articles about John Coltrane

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The House That Trane Built: The Story Of Impulse Records

by Suzanne Lorge
June 3, 2006

The House That Trane Built: The Story Of Impulse Records Ashley Kahn Hardcover; 340 pages W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. 2006

Author Ashley Kahn's latest contribution to the documentation of jazz history is The House That Trane Built: The Story Of Impulse Records, a chronicle of the rise of Impulse Records in the '60s and '70s. Impulse Records occupied a unique place in the development of jazz for the sheer variety of ...

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The Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions

by C. Michael Bailey
May 24, 2006

The noted Irish-American author Thomas Cahill has written a series of books called “The Hinges of History" where, instead of concentrating on war, outrage, and catastrophe, the author illuminates stories of grace, great gift-givers and the evolution of our human sensibility. Cahill brings to life those personalities who had the greatest impact on who we are. In the realm of jazz music, we have an artist who regularly installed hinges in the history of American music. He ...

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John Coltrane: One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note

by John Kelman
October 10, 2005

How times have changed. These days, when a group is to be recorded for broadcast, it's often at the mercy of the people making the recording. Sets have to be altered, sometimes significantly so, in order to package the performance so that it's “broadcast-ready. The process can be so intrusive that artists like guitarist Pat Metheny speak about self-editing when they know they're to be recorded.

Not so in 1965, when two separate performances of saxophonist John Coltrane's classic quartet ...

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by Samuel Chell
October 6, 2005

I don't recall a jazz CD ever receiving as much pre-release publicity as this one, Newsweek even referring to it as the “musical equivalent of the discovery of a new Mount Everest." Consequently, a listener couldn't be faulted for some anticlimactic sentiments, if not outright disappointment, at having the product in hand. Not to worry. Even upon an initial play, the recording is capable of commanding undivided attention from the first through the last track.

Monk has never ...

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by Chris May
September 26, 2005

The hype surrounding the discovery and release of this concert recording has been considerable, but now the actuality is upon us, every breathless adjective proves to be justified and then some: it's only September, and this beauty must already qualify as the Buried Treasure Discovery Of The Year, no contest.

Just in case you've been off-planet recently and missed it, here's the back story.... It's '57 and the legendary, and legendarily under-recorded, Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, ...

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Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane: At Carnegie Hall

by John Kelman
September 23, 2005

The impact of the late pianist/composer Thelonious Monk on modern jazz is almost impossible to quantify. First emerging as part of the crew of New York musicians spearheading the bebop movement in the 1940s, including saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, he quickly differentiated himself with an idiosyncratic and seemingly unschooled approach. Coupled with his somewhat eccentric personal behaviour, his playing alienated those more steeped in convention--even a development as recent as bebop having its own rigid definition.

While ...

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The Gospel of St. John

by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
August 16, 2005

As stated last month, kids, I'm going to spend a portion of this year on in-depth profiles of some of the greatest forces in jazz history. I had originally intended to go in chronological order, beginning with some great pioneer like Jelly Roll Morton or the ubiquitous Louis Armstrong, but a recent experience convinced me to do whatever in the hell I want because it's my column.

Which is to say.

I was talking with a hard-working college student lately ...