John Coltrane(1926 — 1967)
John Coltrane
États-Unis
5 min read
John Coltrane (1926-1967) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. A major figure of modal jazz and free jazz, he profoundly renewed the language of improvisation and gave his music a spiritual dimension.
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« My music is the spiritual expression of what I am. »
« I want to be a force for real good. »
Key Facts
- Born on September 23, 1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina.
- A member of Miles Davis's quintet in the late 1950s, he played on the modal album Kind of Blue (1959).
- Recorded Giant Steps (1960), a demonstration of his harmonic virtuosity.
- Formed his classic quartet and released A Love Supreme (1965), an emblematic spiritual work.
- Died on July 17, 1967, in Huntington (New York) of liver cancer.
Works & Achievements
Coltrane's first major album as a leader, considered a high point of hard bop.
A foundational album of modal jazz; Coltrane delivers solos that have remained famous.
An album with a dizzying harmonic structure (the “Coltrane changes”), a genuine challenge for improvisers.
A modal, hypnotic reworking of a musical-theater song, played on soprano saxophone; a huge popular success.
A four-part suite conceived as a prayer, regarded as his masterpiece and a high point of spiritual jazz.
A collective, tumultuous work that plunges into free jazz and overturns every convention.
Anecdotes
In 1958, the critic Ira Gitler coined the expression “sheets of sound” to describe Coltrane's playing: he played so many notes, so fast and so tightly packed, that they seemed to pour out in continuous cascades. This dazzling technique became one of his signatures.
In 1957, Coltrane was battling a severe heroin addiction that got him fired from Miles Davis's band. He decided to quit cold turkey and went through what he called a “spiritual awakening.” Seven years later, he recorded A Love Supreme, an album conceived as a thank-you to God.
In 1960, Coltrane covered My Favorite Things, a song from the musical The Sound of Music. Instead of a tame melody, he turned it into a long, hypnotic exploration on the soprano saxophone, an instrument that was rare in jazz at the time. The piece became one of his greatest hits.
Coltrane was famous for his relentless work ethic: he could practice his scales for hours, sometimes until he fell asleep with the reed still in his mouth. His bandmates said he was almost never without his saxophone.
After his death in 1967, admirers founded a church in San Francisco that venerates him as a saint: the St. John Coltrane Church. His music is played there during services, proof of the almost religious aura that A Love Supreme had taken on.
Primary Sources
During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.
All praise be to God to whom all praise is due. [...] A love supreme, a love supreme.
He developed what might be called “sheets of sound.”
My goal is to live the truly religious life and express it in my music.
Key Places
Coltrane's birthplace, in the segregated South of the United States.
The town where he grew up and got his first taste of music at school.
Coltrane settled here in the late 1940s, studied music, and launched his professional career.
The heart of jazz, where Coltrane performed with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and later his own quartet.
Studio where he recorded several of his masterpieces, including A Love Supreme in December 1964.
Home of his final years, near which he died in 1967; today it is a place of remembrance.