John Coltrane
 

We most definitely need a thread on him. My favorite jazz musician. Nuff said. /end of

Pure Genius

one of the best. I can listen to
miles davis + john coltrane - blue in green
all day long

Legend.

*bows down*

I only listened to A Love Supreme the other night, and all I can say is WOW

I have Ascension but don't really like it. Much prefer Ornette Coleman.

I would, however, like to hear A Love Supreme. If anyone could upload it, I'd be quite grateful.

I just bought his Giant Steps album.
It isn't one of his best works but it's pretty . . . mellowish I suppose.
(check that out)

Giant Steps is an incredible album.
The title track is a tune that stretched the harmonic language of jazz. It is an incredibly hard tune to solo on. You should listen to it several times in a row to get your brain around it. I would not say that tune is mellow.
Coltrane was always pushing jazz to new places and this album is an example of that.

Naima is also one of the prettiest jazz tunes of all time.

How many times have you listened to the album?

It is a wonderful album. It's somewhere in the sharing thread if anyone wants it I'll try to find it.

hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/80tegj

I had to re upload it, as the old link had run out. I think

A love Supreme

Coltrane was in my opinion the greatest. He changed the way people looked at the sax, his avante garde jazz was superb and his stuff with miles davis doesnt need words to explain it, Just listen.

John's by far my favorite.

My favourite jazz musician as well. "Blue Train" is one of my favourite albums ever, by anyone.

Coltrane did some good stuff with Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, A Love Supreme, Blue Train, and Newport '63 are my favourite solo albums of his.

i loved brecker, too bad hes gone

If you mean Michael, I concur, but this is the Coltrane thread!

Someone upload something? preferably the one theyd think I liked best.

So you know jake or catie should probably upload it.

ethan's a jazz virgin.

jazz virgin! jazz virgin!

:( shush!

/cries

After the Rain, on the albumn The Gentle side of John Coltrane.. is a great one in my opinion.. i enjoy when the legends take a break from the beats and solo their instruments, .. whether or not this is an example or not I don't know, but a great song

Megaupload uploads screwed up before I left, and I just got back, so I'll get them up for you soon.

Coltrane's greatness is undisputed, but I can't rate him as better than Charlie Parker and Lester Young, IMHO.

Honestly, I'd place him above Lester Young, some of his improvisation is TOO good, he's a genius, and not too overrated, either.

Then again, I'd probably also put sax. players like Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, and Michael Brecker infront of Lester Young.

If you want to rate Coltrane higher, fine. But there's no way the others you mentioned were better than Young.

"In 1944, he (Young) won first place in the Down Beat poll for tenor saxophonists, the first of many such honors. He also became the favorite of a new generation of jazz musicians, among them John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz."

PBS - JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns: Selected Artist Biography - Lester Young

"During the years 1956 to 1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz"
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/ar...ny_rollins.htm

"No saxophonist in jazz has had as pervasive an influence as Michael Brecker, since the death of John Coltrane in 1967"
Latest Global News & Views - Times and Sunday Times UK | Times Online

IMO, just because Young came first doesn't automatically make him the best saxophone player in the world.
Also, his playing style was too swing-oriented for my tastes, it almost made his improv. solos a little monotonous/conservative in comparison to Charlie Parker.
If you compare Parker to Young, their playing styles were very similar, though Parker's solos were much more sporadic while composing in a bebop style, in many recordings you can tell Bird had a little more creative backing/flow of ideas.
I think Lester Young opened the door to tenor saxophonists to truly experiment with their sound, style, and improvisation, like Coltrane, Rollins, and Brecker.
After the door was opened, the latter (like Bird) had a new foundation, on top of the constant evolution of jazz at the time, to construct masterpieces (with the help of their abilities of course) that Young wasn't able to perform at the peak of his career.
In no way am I saying that Lester Young wasn't one of the best saxophonists of all time, he was basically the pioneer of jazz improvisation on tenor saxophone, I'm just saying that some of the other saxophonists mentioned that came after him had a little more room to experiment and hone their abilities.

"During the years 1956 to 1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz"

Your quote , even if true, does absolutely nothing to prove Rollins was "better" than Young, who died in 1959, and had suffered from severe alcoholism for years prior. If both men are compared in their respective PRIME, Young was definitely the better and more influential jazz saxophonist. All your quote is saying is that Rollins was the best for two short years in the 50's. It says nothing about him being better than Young and others who came before him (or after).

"No saxophonist in jazz has had as pervasive an influence as Michael Brecker, since the death of John Coltrane in 1967"

Another quote that does nothing to prove Brecker was "better" than Young. Even if true, all it proves is that Brecker is the best saxophonist since 1967. It says NOTHING about BEFORE 1967. Again, if both are compared in their respective PRIME, Young was without doubt the better and more influential saxophonist.

"IMO, just because Young came first doesn't automatically make him the best saxophone player in the world."

I never said he was the best jazz saxophonist of all time, so you're putting words in my mouth.

"Although Lester did play alto in his early days, he gravitated towards the tenor but maintained a higher and lighter, yet meaty, tonality than the big-toned and gruff sounding players of his day. That concept carried through time reaching Charlie parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stan Getz and so many others."

"Charlie Parker was not known as a great player until after the summer he went into the hills armed with all of Lester Young's solos on record and learned, analyzed and absorbed them to come up with his unique style."

Hearing Is Believing

"Many decades after his death, Pres [Lester Young] is still considered (along with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane) one of the three most important tenor saxophonists of all time."

allmusic ((( Lester Young > Biography )))

he's a legend. up there with miles davis.

great musician

Good Tray

One of my favourites. His more bluesy material especially.

'A Love supreme' is a defining moment in jazz. I love 'Cresent' too. Coltrane's solos seem to float above the band untill in an impossible moment, he shows you he never left the melody, the way he plays around or in the line.
Coltrane's band gets my admiration undyingly... McCoy Tyner, OH YEAH!!
Davis had some great bands, but never for more than an album or two. Coltrane's regulars knew how to react and play against him.

Geez ... Ascension is hard to get into for sure, but ultimately I like it better than Ornette's free-est stuff (for Ornette I like the Prime Time era the best, most days, but that's another story) ... couldn't say WHY I prefer it, but I went so far as to listen to both released takes of Ascension, days apart for clarity, and ended up agreeing that Coltrane's decision to change which was the official released take, not long after the album came out, was a wise decision ... it's subtle, but the energetic effects are distinctly superior (ie more refined in a particular direction) ...

But there's something to like and to study and learn from and freak about on every album I've heard. Some of the runs on "Village Vanguard" sound like falling leaves or eddies in running water. The "Giant Steps" album has some of the most insanely labyrinthine chord changes ever ... and he kept working those same changes for the rest of his life, he just stopped making the band play them and improvised through them himself over various kinds of drone or rhythmic din. And his experiments with group tone (in terms of personnel) on albums like Kulu Se Mama, Live In Seattle, or the duets with Rashied Ali (remarkable for many reasons but sounding now less like falling leaves than torrential rain on your windshield in a tropical forest) are also enlightening. And "A Love Supreme" is an astonishing kernel of wholeness. You can analyze any of these things to a point that would kill most music but it just gets more incredible with every magnification

'Ascent' off of Sun Ship is one of the best bass performances ever. Sorry Mingus.

John is great! I think his my favorite too, right after Lester Young! :)

one of my favorite if not my MOST favorite jazz musician, and yes i'm putting him ahead of miles davis.

the bass player in the popnroll group who played after mine Tuesday night warmed his fingers up with Giant Steps - hope for the culture?

sweeeeeet

I've been collecting more new than old jazz lately, but I realized just a bit ago that I really don't have that much Coltrane actually on my drive beyond A Love Supreme and Blue Train. :(

In Sun Ship highly recommendable?

I love John Coltrane.
 

You can't go wrong with John Coltrane.

I will be looking forward to more info on this thread. :wave: