I saw him live quite a few years back. stunning...
Hi NEB
To be exact 41 years at least. John Coltrane passed away 07/17/1967 only 41 years old.
John Coltrane born in Hamlet, North Carolina 09/23/1926 (tenor and soprano saxophone, clarinet and alto horn). The alto horn and clarinet was only while at school.
John Coltrane had a significant natural talent on the tenor saxophone. He could play three tones at the same time in rapid passages and harmonicly exploring improvisations with his typical sharp sound. I am not kiddin´. This particular playing style was called "sheets of sound". Until the time when he joined up with Miles Davis in 1955, the jazz critics blamed JC for too long solos, but Miles Davis supported him to keep it up.
JC played with Miles Quintet from 1955-60 particularely on one of the most famous jazz albums at all in the past century "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis released in 1959. When JC left MD Quintet in 1960 he had ended his long addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In the same period he spend with The Miles Davis Quintet he recorded in his own name on "Traneing In" Prestige Records 1957, "Blue Train" Blue Note Records 1957 and "Soultrane", Prestige Records 1958. On
"Giant Steps" Atlantic Records 1959, he also played the soprano saxophone.
From 1960/61 he played with McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Jarrison (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums) on albums like "My Favourite Thing", "Coltrane´s Sound" and "Coltrane Plays The Blues, all of them from Atlantic Records 1960. In 1961 he changed record label for Impulse and recorded with Eric Dolphy "Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard " from 1961. Around 1965 JC developed a more free and experimenting "Ascension" with a quartet and brass section. Among the new musicians on this album was John Tchicai and later with Pharaoh Sanders.
Later he formed a group with Alice Coltrane (harp and piano) and Rashied Ali (drums), which played
classical indian and african music on "A Love Supreme" and "Meditations" and "OM" all in 1965.
John Coltrane has been credited for his significant way of playing and his tenor saxophone made school for the next generation of saxophonist.
Best regards,
intet-at-tabe