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The John Coltrane Centennial, part 2: 1950s era recordings as a leader
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You'll hear commentary on these recordings from members of the jazz community, including Sonny Rollins, the pianist and author Lewis Porter and Michael Cuscuna of Blue Note and Mosaic Records.
"Sheets of Sound" is an apt description of this era of Coltrane's music. The term was coined by the critic Ira Gitler, who described Coltrane's unique style of soloing with rapid runs and arpeggios "that create a dense, cascading effect, almost like a musical waterfall."
This style marked a departure from the more linear and melodic solos typical of hard bop at the time, offering instead a more complex, textured, and harmonically rich sound.
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