John William Coltrane, also known as Trane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and was later at the forefront of free jazz. He organized at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. As his career progressed, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. His second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane and their son Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist. Coltrane influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant saxophonists in music history. He received many posthumous awards and recognitions, including canonization by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane and a special Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Early life and career (1926–1954) Coltrane was born in his parents apartment at 200 Hamlet Avenue, Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926. His father was John R. Coltrane and his mother was Alice Coltrane. He grew up in High Point, North Carolina, attending William Penn High School (now Penn-Griffin School for the Arts). Beginning in December 1938 Coltranes aunt, grandparents, and father all died within a few months of each other, leaving John to be raised by his mother and a close cousin. In June 1943 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In September of that year his mother bought him his first saxophone, an alto. He had his first professional gigs in early to mid-1945 – a cocktail lounge trio, with piano and guitar. To avoid being drafted by the Army, Coltrane enlisted in the Navy on August 6, 1945, the day the first U.S. atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. He was trained as an apprentice seaman at Sampson Naval Training Station in upstate New York before he was shipped to Pearl Harbor, where he was stationed at Manana Barracks, the largest posting of African-American servicemen in the world. By the time he got to Hawaii, in late 1945, the Navy was already rapidly downsizing. Coltranes musical talent was quickly recognized, though, and he became one of the few Navy men to serve as a musician without having been granted musicians rating when he joined the Melody Masters, the base swing band. He continued to perform other duties when not playing with the band, including kitchen and security details. By the end of his service, he had assumed a leadership role in the band. His first recordings, an informal session in Hawaii with navy musicians, occurred on July 13, 1946.Coltrane played alto saxophone on a selection of jazz standards and bebop tunes. After mustering out of the Navy, as a seaman first class in August 1946, Coltrane returned to Philadelphia, where he plunged into the heady excitement of the new music and the blossoming bebop scene. After touring with King Kolax, he joined a Philly-based band led by Jimmy Heath, who was introduced to Coltranes playing by his former Navy buddy, the trumpeter William Massey, who had played with Coltrane in the Melody Masters In Philadelphia after the war, he studied jazz theory with guitarist and composer Dennis Sandole and continued under Sandoles tutelage through the early 1950s. Originally an altoist, during this time Coltrane also began playing tenor saxophone with the Eddie Vinson Band. Coltrane later referred to this point in his life as a time when a wider area of listening opened up for me. There were many things that people like Hawk [Coleman Hawkins], and Ben [Webster] , and Tab Smith were doing in the 40s that I didnt understand, but that I felt emotionally. An important moment in the progression of Coltranes musical development occurred on June 5, 1945, when he saw Charlie Parker perform for the first time. In a DownBeat article in 1960 he recalled: the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes. Parker became an early idol, and they played together on occasion in the late 1940s. Contemporary correspondence shows that Coltrane was already known as Trane by this point, and that the music from some 1946 recording sessions had been played for trumpeter Miles Davis—possibly impressing him. Coltrane was a member of groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges in the early to mid-1950s.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 07:28:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015