While writing yesterday, I listened to a few hours of John Coltrane in the early '60s. Absorbing Coltrane through the ears is one experience.
Watching him play in a video is quite another. Seeing tenor and soprano saxophonist play the music you're hearing is astonishing, not to mention the cool intensity of his sidemen. The experience is like watching a great athlete train hard or a great painter at work. Here are four videos of John Coltrane, arguable the last great modern jazz artist:
Here's On Green Dolphin Street in 1960 with a superb piano solo by Wynton Kelly...
Here's the same group playing Walkin'...
Here's Coltrane with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones in 1965 playing My Favorite Things...
And here's the same quartet in 1965 playing Naima...
Watching him play in a video is quite another. Seeing tenor and soprano saxophonist play the music you're hearing is astonishing, not to mention the cool intensity of his sidemen. The experience is like watching a great athlete train hard or a great painter at work. Here are four videos of John Coltrane, arguable the last great modern jazz artist:
Here's On Green Dolphin Street in 1960 with a superb piano solo by Wynton Kelly...
Here's the same group playing Walkin'...
Here's Coltrane with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones in 1965 playing My Favorite Things...
And here's the same quartet in 1965 playing Naima...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved.
