Happy Birthday John Coltrane

by Anthony Medici in Album Reviews, Editorials, Honoring Lives, Musician Reviews, Opinion Posts

This post is simply to pay homage to John Coltrane, born September 23, 1926, in Hamlet, NC, died July 17, 1967 in Long Island, NY. While I am not quite ready to join the St. John Coltrane Church I can understand the impulse to canonize this great musical spirit, for Coltrane is one of the great musical artists of the 20th century. I say that, I think, without exaggeration. The term “great” or “greatness” are often tossed around all too casually, but there are a few spirits that deserve it: Trane, Miles, Monk, Mingus. They changed our musical language, and hence our world, in profound ways.

I spent a part of today listening though the boxed set of Coltrane’s Atlantic recordings, “The Heavyweight Champ.” What fantastic music. If you do not have this box set, you simply must buy it. Besides the abundance of great music, it contains what is one of my favorite albums, which I never tire of, and always come away refreshed from, “Giant Steps.” For me, “Giant Steps” stands at a key threshold in Coltrane’s progression, and, indeed, the progression of modern jazz, for it sums up all the lessons of the classic jazz masters, and shows the way forward to the the postmodern era.

I know many part ways with Coltrane toward the latter part of his time at Impulse Records, when Trane began to explore free jazz styles. That would be a shame, for it is a fascinating journey to take. Yes, some of the music is challenging and demands repeated listenings, but it amply repays that effort. In jazz, it is always about listening through the challenges and finding that next level of musical understanding.

I recently acquired an original gatefold LP version of Trane’s “Kulu Se Mama,” where Trane is joined by McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Donald Garrett, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Frank Butler, and Juno Lewis, who wrote the “poem” upon which the title cut is based. I put poem in quotes because, frankly, as poetry, Juno Lewis’s writing (reporoduced with much ado inside the gatefold) is about as poetic as the Columbus, Ohio phone book. Fortunately, Juno’s voice is resonant enough to make the phone book lyrics sound melliflouos, if not musical. I do love the incantory quality of the title track. Listen to McCoy Tyner’s playing; it’s quite powerful and cuts throught the horns and percussion like a heartbeat.

I also listened to another later Coltrane work on Impulse, “Meditations,” which can be considered a sort of postscript to “A Love Supreme.” The album reminded me of what a strong debt Coltrane’s later music owed to Albert Ayler.

So, this week, get out your Coltrane albums and CDs and LISTEN. If you have not yet chanced to listen to Coltrane, go buy “Giant Steps” to start. You’ll want to continue the journey.