John Coltrane, Saxophone, 1923, Hamlet, NC -- d. July 17, 1967, NY
Saint or saxophone player? "If there's any such thing as a perfect man, I think John Coltrane was one. And I think that kind of perfection has to come from a greater force than there is here on earth." This is how drummer Elvin Jones felt about one of the true giants of jazz, a 20th century jazz legend that some believe was "a mortal man, living an immortal life."John William Coltrane grew up in the house of his grandfather, Rev. William Blair (who gave him his middle name), a preacher and community spokesman in High Point, North Carolina. He took clarinet lessons at school, but his school band leader thought he should play the alto saxophone and convinced his mother to buy him one. In 1939 his grandfather, then his father died, and after finishing high school, he joined his mother in Philadelphia. He spent a short period at the Ornstein School of Music and the Granoff Studios, where he won scholarships for both performance and composition. However, his real education began when he started gigging; first in the Navy band for two years (1945-46), then touring in the King Kolax and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson bands playing big-band music. He switched to tenor saxaphone while he played in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band (1949-51) and toured with Earl Bostic (1952), Johnny Hodges (1953-54) and Jimmy Smith (1955). His rise to jazz legend started when he joined the Miles Davis quintet with Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones (1955-57). Along with Sonny Rollins, he became New York's most in-demand hard bop tenor player. However, his addiction to heroin and alcohol got him fired from Davis' group, and he hit rock bottom. Shortly after leaving Davis in 1957, Trane overcame his addiction and said he, "experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life." Some say in order to kick the junk, he made a pact with God. His album "A Love Supreme,"celebrated this victory and his profound religious experience associated with it.
In 1957 he played on 21 important recordings, and played in Thelonious Monk's quartet (July-December 1957). He rejoined Davis and worked in various quintets and sextets with Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Chambers, Jones, and others (1958-60). While with Davis he discovered the soprano saxophone. In March and April 1959, Coltrane participated with the Davis group on the historic album "Kind of Blue." Released on August 17, 1959, it became one of the best-selling and most-acclaimed recordings ever in the history of jazz. In between the sessions for the album, Coltrane began recording his Atlantic Records debut of his original compositions, "Giant Steps" in 1960. This album marked his real debut as a leading jazz performer, even though the 33-year-old musician had released three previous solo albums and made numerous other recordings. Trane's first group made its debut at New York's Jazz Gallery in early May 1960. After briefly trying Steve Kuhn, Pete La Roca, and Billy Higgins, Coltrane hired two musicians who became longstanding members of his quartet, McCoy Tyner (1960-65) and Elvin Jones (1960-66), with Jimmy Garrison, joining in 1961.
In October, 1960, Coltrane recorded a series of sessions for Atlantic that produced one of his signature pieces; his soprano sax version of "My Favorite Things," from the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical "The Sound of Music." After an album of ballads with Duke Ellington in 1962, which seemed to deflect criticism of his free jazz experimentation, his recordings became wilder and wilder. His unstinting commitment to new horizons caused Elvin Jones to leave after Coltrane brought in a second drummer (Rashied Ali). McCoy Tyner was replaced by Alice [Coltrane] McLeod (who married Coltrane in 1965). He was very interested in new sax players and always made room for them in his band. They included Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown, John Tchicai and Eric Dolphy.
Coltrane died from liver cancer at Huntington Hospital in Long Island, NY on July 17, 1967, at 40. His earlier alcohol and heroin abuse probably contributed or caused this illness. Coltrane's son, Ravi Coltrane (named after Ravi Shankar, the sitarist), followed in his father's footsteps and became a saxophonist. His widow, Alice Coltrane recently returned to music after several decades of retirement
For more information about John Coltrane and his legacy, please visit www.johncoltrane.com.
Quotes from John Coltrane...
All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.
I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.
You can play a shoestring if you're sincere.
Frank Foster, Saxophone, 1928, Cincinnatti, OH
In addition to the tenor sax, Frank also played alto sax, and clarinet. He also composed and arranged. It was during the late '40s that the tenor sax became his primary instrument. From 1949 until he was drafted, he worked in the Detroit area with Snooky Young, among others. After two years in the service, Frank joined Count Basie's band and became one if its major soloists. While with Basie he composed "Shiny Stockings" which became a major hit for Basie. Foster left Basie in the mid '60s and became a freelance musician in New York. He then joined Elvin Jones where he remained until the end of the decade. During this same period he formed a big band of his own that performed occasionally for several years. In 1966 he assumed leadership of Basie's band and also continued to perform with small groups of his own. Today, Frank continues to perform and compose with various groups of his own and others.
Les McCann, Piano, 1935, Lexington, KY
Les came from a musical family where he learned to play the drums and the tuba ,and while still very young taught himself to play the piano. While at school and in the navy he sang with various bands and continued to developed his skill on the piano. While in the navy Les won a talent contest as a singer, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan TV Show. After his discharge, Les settled in California where he led groups of his own and began to gain some recognition. At one point he declined an attractive offer to join Cannonball Adderley's group and instead decided to go with Pacific Jazz. The company issued several of his albums that were successful ,and brought him a good amount of fame and fortune. He recorded frequently throughout the '60s and his soulful funk style influenced many younger players. In 1969 McCann appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival as a singer with Eddie Harris's band. At this time in his career Les decided to concentrate on his abilities as a singer. During the 1970s he enjoyed much success as a singer and also again on the piano. In the early '80s he gradually ceased playing jazz and concentrated on rhythm-and-blues and soul music. He has made few recordings since that period.
Ray Charles, Singer/Pianist, 1930, Albany, GA
Ray's childhood was spent in Greenville, Florida, in a very poor family. At the age of five he contracted glaucoma; it went untreated and within a year Ray was blind. When he was around five he also began playing the piano, and a few years later he attended the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, where he was taught composition and learned to write music in Braille. In the mid '40s Ray formed a music group and left school to tour Florida, and shortly afterwards, without the group, he went to Seattle. There he worked with numerous small groups and began to develop a style that was heavily influenced by Nat Cole and Louis Jordan, two of his idols. Ray's real name was Robinson, and around this time he changed it to Charles in order to avoid confusion with the prizefighter, Sugar Ray Robinson. In 1954 he formed his own larger ensemble band and had several rhythm-and-blues hits, including "I've Got A Woman". His piano and vocal style was strongly influenced by gospel music, and on the wonderful album he recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 he established himself as a swinging rock-and-roll preacher, a smooth sophisticated singer, a big-band leader, and a very swinging bop pianist. In his arrangements Charles revealed a strong appreciation of modern jazz. (Quincy Jones received some tuition from him in Seattle). He was best known, however, for his rocking work in popular music, a musician of fundamental importance and far-reaching influence, he was among the principal architects of black popular music from the rhythm-and-blues style to soul. Most of Charles's records from around 1960 are what would be called middle-of-the-road, but his way with material like "You Are My Sunshine" to "Georgia On My Mind" demonstrates the influence of jazz singing in the tradition of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Moreover, the same kind of fusion created by his vocal style (gospel + blues + jazz = soul) occured equally effortlessly in his piano playing. Ray's 1950s instrumental albums provided a considerable boost to the recognition of gospel's influence on hard bop, and indeed on the swing and R & B bands that inspired the hard boppers in the first place. Ray Charles died in 2004.
Albert Ammons, Piano, 1907, Chicago, IL
