Jazz Articles about John Coltrane

like 332

John Coltrane: Meditations

by Robert Spencer
July 1, 1997

This is it, friends: the last recording (November 23, 1965) McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones made with John Coltrane. One need only turn from this to The Real McCoy or any other McCoy Tyner or Elvin Jones album of the period to get a clue as to why they left the “classic quartet." In the first place, Meditations isn't a quartet album at all: the leader has added an additional drummer, Rashied Ali, and another tenor saxophonist, Pharoah Sanders, to ...

like 413

John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard Again!

by Robert Spencer
July 1, 1997

Live at the Village Vanguard, was one of John Coltrane's most successful and controversial albums. It was one of the first by the “classic quartet," and contained a boffo guest appearance by Eric Dolphy on the magnificent “Spiritual."

This isn't it. Five years after that triumph, Coltrane returned to the Vanguard with his New Thing quintet, expanded to a sextet for the occasion: Coltrane on soprano, tenor, and bass clarinet; Pharoah Sanders on tenor and flute; Alice Coltrane on piano, ...

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John Coltrane: The John Coltrane Quartet Plays

by Robert Spencer
July 1, 1997

“Chim Chim Cheree”? Sure. The guy has a hit with “My Favorite Things,” and some record company executive with gold chains sticking out of his chest hairs says, “Johnny! We love this far out stuff, this ‘Chasin’ the Trane’ stuff. Beautiful. You’re a spiritual cat, you know, Trane (may I call you Trane)? And I respect that. I do. But hey, we want to sell records, you know what I’m saying. You want to reach people. You want more people ...

like 407

John Coltrane: The John Coltrane Quartet Plays

by Robert Spencer
July 1, 1997

“Chim Chim Cheree”? Sure. The guy has a hit with “My Favorite Things,” and some record company executive with gold chains sticking out of his chest hairs says, “Johnny! We love this far out stuff, this ‘Chasin’ the Trane’ stuff. Beautiful. You’re a spiritual cat, you know, Trane (may I call you Trane)? And I respect that. I do. But hey, we want to sell records, you know what I’m saying. You want to reach people. You want more people ...

like 380

John Coltrane: Coltrane Live At Birdland

by AAJ Staff
June 1, 1997

Critics have proclaimed John Coltrane as one of the most influential jazz musicians, one of the greatest innovators AND saxophonists of all time. Noted jazz critic Ira Gitler once described Coltrane's music as “sheets of sound." All very true statements from (mostly) well-respected individuals.

My personal favorite era of the John Coltrane Sound features arguably the greatest quartet of all time, pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison, the quartet formed in late 1961. Coltrane is so ...

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John Coltrane: A Love Supreme

by Robert Spencer
June 1, 1997

Although this disc is relatively new in its packaging and 20-bit format, it enjoyed a popular run previously as one of the first Impulse CD reissues. The latest re-release is an attractive treatment: the original (first-rate) cover art is restored, the sound is markedly better, and John Coltrane's liner letter and poem are in a readable type size. So if there is any jazz fan on the planet who hasn't yet heard this one, now's the time. This is, of ...

like 496

John Coltrane: The Ultimate Blue Train

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 1, 1997

My soft spot in jazz has always been the blues, and artists who frequently employed blues tonalities--Oliver Nelson, Yusef Lateef, Mingus, Monk.

John Coltrane’s name doesn’t often come up in discussions of the blues. Other aspects of Coltrane’s music--like the sense of energy in his playing, of intuition and unquenchable fire--are discussed, but rarely the way he played the blues. Yet legend has it that Coltrane’s favorite album of his own music was Blue Train, his lush yet emotionally throbbing ...