John Coltrane Biography
John Coltrane (1926-1967) is one of the giants of the alto saxophone. Although his career was relatively short, Coltrane helped to change the face of modern jazz and permanently altered the parameters of his instrument. While his recording career lasted only twelve years and was cut short by his premature death, Coltrane was remarkably prolific and evolved at a rapid rate—sometimes so rapid that listeners and critics couldn’t keep pace. Although some of his work generated considerable controversy during his lifetime, more than four decades after his death, Coltrane is universally revered.
Coltrane grew up in High Point, North Carolina, where he took up alto sax while playing in his high school band. After graduating in 1943 and moving to Philadelphia, he played around town in local clubs, before being drafted into the Navy in 1945. While stationed in Hawaii, he played jazz with other sailors, and made his first recordings with a group of his fellow servicemen. Following his discharge in 1946, Coltrane moved to New York and played with groups led by Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Jimmy Heath, Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, Johnny Hodges and Jimmy Smith. In 1955, Coltrane joined Miles Davis’s quintet, with which he cut such historic albums as ‘Round About Midnight and Blue Miles. In the second half of 1957, Coltrane began a timely collaboration with Thelonious Monk to play a now-legendary six-month engagement at Manhattan’s Five Spot Cafe, after which Coltrane returned to Davis’ band in time to record the seminal Kind of Blue.
Coltrane began recording albums (notably 1957’s Blue Train) under his own name during the late 1950s. He stepped up his solo career with his 1960 release Giant Steps, his first LP of all original compositions. The same year, he released the landmark My Favorite Things, consisting of interpretations of familiar pop standards, some with Coltrane playing soprano sax; the album’s title track became one of his most popular recordings. By then, Coltrane had left Davis to concentrate on his own quartet, a stellar lineup that included McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums.
Over the next several years, Coltrane released a series of influential and popular albums for the Atlantic and Impulse! labels, including his 1965 classic A Love Supreme, and collaborations with Duke Ellington and singer Johnny Hartman. Such albums as Ascension, Om and Meditations reflected Coltrane’s growing interest in spirituality and mysticism, as well as a restless experimental sensibility that led Coltrane to explore the influence of modal jazz and Indian ragas. His experimental spirit—as demonstrated by his work with such adventurous players as Eric Dolphy, Pharaoh Sanders and Rashied Ali—thrilled many listeners but initially divided critics. Coltrane also showed an increasing interest the avant-garde jazz of such players as Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Sun Ra, and it’s interesting to speculate on where his muse might have taken him, had he not passed away in July 1967.
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