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John Coltrane: the story on HearLore | HearLore
John Coltrane
John Coltrane was born on the 23rd of September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, into a family that would soon be decimated by tragedy. Within a few months of December 1938, his father, aunt, and grandparents all died, leaving the young boy to be raised by his mother and a close cousin. This early loss forged a resilience that would later manifest in his relentless pursuit of music. By June 1943, he had moved to Philadelphia, where he worked at a sugar refinery and took his first saxophone lessons at the Ornstein School of Music. The pivotal moment in his musical awakening occurred on the 5th of June 1945, when he saw Charlie Parker perform for the first time. In a 1960 DownBeat article, Coltrane recalled the visceral impact of that night, stating that hearing Bird play hit him right between the eyes. This single experience ignited a fire that would drive him to practice twenty-five hours a day, often falling asleep with the horn still in his mouth or practicing a single note for hours on end. His dedication was so extreme that he once took the horn out of his mouth to practice fingering for a full hour after a hotel complaint was issued, proving that his craft was not merely a job but a spiritual discipline.
The Navy Band And The First Recordings
To avoid the draft, Coltrane enlisted in the Navy on the 6th of August 1945, the very day the first U.S. atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. He was trained at Sampson Naval Training Station before being shipped to Pearl Harbor, where he was stationed at Manana Barracks, the largest posting of African American servicemen in the world. Despite the Navy downsizing, his musical talent was recognized, and he joined the Melody Masters, the base swing band. Because the Melody Masters was an all-white band, Coltrane was treated as a guest performer to avoid alerting superior officers of his participation in the band, yet he continued to perform other duties 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 the 13th of July 1946. He played alto saxophone on a selection of jazz standards and bebop tunes, officially earning the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic, Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal before being discharged on the 8th of August 1946. This period laid the foundation for a career that would eventually see him become one of the most influential figures in 20th-century music.
The Sheets Of Sound And The Monk Connection
After his discharge, Coltrane returned to Philadelphia and used the G.I. Bill to enroll at the Granoff School of Music, studying music theory with jazz guitarist and composer Dennis Sandole. He also took saxophone lessons with Matthew Rastelli, though these stopped when his funds ran out. His career began to take shape when he joined a band led by Jimmy Heath, introduced to him by his former Navy buddy, trumpeter William Massey. Although he started on alto saxophone, he switched to playing tenor saxophone in 1947 with Eddie Vinson. This era saw him become a member of groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges. A significant influence during this time was the Philadelphia pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali, whom Coltrane credited as the clue to the system he used. In 1955, he received a call from trumpeter Miles Davis to join his quintet, known as the First Great Quintet. This group, featuring Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, released influential albums like Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin'. However, the quintet disbanded due in part to Coltrane's heroin addiction, a struggle that would plague him for years before his eventual recovery and spiritual awakening.
When was John Coltrane born and where did he grow up?
John Coltrane was born on the 23rd of September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina. He moved to Philadelphia by June 1943 to work at a sugar refinery and take his first saxophone lessons at the Ornstein School of Music.
What happened to John Coltrane's family in 1938?
Within a few months of December 1938, John Coltrane's father, aunt, and grandparents all died. This tragedy left the young boy to be raised by his mother and a close cousin.
How did John Coltrane serve in the military and when was he discharged?
John Coltrane enlisted in the Navy on the 6th of August 1945 and was discharged on the 8th of August 1946. He received the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic, Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal during his service.
When did John Coltrane record A Love Supreme and where was it composed?
John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme in December 1964 at his home in Dix Hills on Long Island. The quartet played the album live only three times and recorded it twice in July 1965 and October 1965.
How did John Coltrane die and when did his death occur?
John Coltrane died of liver cancer at the age of 40 on the 17th of July 1967 at Huntington Hospital on Long Island. His funeral was held four days later at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City.
What is the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church and where is it located?
The St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church is located in San Francisco and worships John Coltrane as a saint. It is the only African Orthodox church that incorporates John Coltrane's music and lyrics as prayers in its liturgy.
In 1957, Coltrane had a religious experience that helped him overcome the heroin and alcoholism he had struggled with since 1948. In the liner notes of A Love Supreme, he stated that by the grace of God, he experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to a richer, fuller, more productive life. This transformation coincided with his work with Thelonious Monk at New York's Five Spot Café, where he played in Monk's quartet from July to December 1957. Although contractual conflicts limited their studio recordings, a private recording of a late summer 1957 reunion was later issued by Blue Note Records. By the end of 1957, Coltrane rejoined Davis, and jazz critic Ira Gitler coined the term sheets of sound to describe his new style, characterized by compressed, rapid runs cascading in very many notes per minute. He developed a unique approach to chord progressions, putting notes in uneven groups like fives and sevens to fit them all in. This period culminated in the recording of Giant Steps in 1960, his first released album as leader for Atlantic Records. The album's title track is generally considered to have one of the most difficult chord progressions of any widely played jazz composition, eventually referred to as Coltrane changes, which led to further experimentation with improvised melody and harmony throughout his career.
The Classic Quartet And A Love Supreme
In 1961, Coltrane formed his first quartet for live performances, eventually settling on pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. This group recorded My Favorite Things in 1961, his first album on soprano saxophone, an unconventional move because the instrument was more associated with earlier jazz. By 1962, the Classic Quartet, as it came to be known, with Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, produced searching, spiritually driven work. They recorded an album of ballads and participated in collaborations with Duke Ellington and singer Johnny Hartman. The quartet's best-selling album, A Love Supreme, was recorded in December 1964. This four-part suite is an ode to his faith in and love for God, with the fourth movement, Psalm, being a musical setting for an original poem to God written by Coltrane. He plays almost exactly one note for each syllable of the poem, basing his phrasing on the words. The album was composed at his home in Dix Hills on Long Island. The quartet played A Love Supreme live only three times, recorded twice in July 1965 at a concert in Antibes, France, and in October 1965 in Seattle, Washington. These recordings, along with the 2021 release of A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle, stand as testaments to the spiritual depth of his music.
The Avant-Garde And The Second Quartet
In his late period, Coltrane showed an interest in the avant-garde jazz of Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and Sun Ra. He was especially influenced by the dissonance of Ayler's trio and championed many young free jazz musicians such as Archie Shepp. In June 1965, he recorded Ascension, a 38-minute piece that included solos by young avant-garde musicians, which was controversial primarily for the collective improvisation sections. By late 1965, he regularly augmented his group with Sanders and other free jazz musicians, including Rashied Ali as a second drummer. This marked the end of the Classic Quartet, as Tyner left the band shortly after the recording of Meditations, and Jones left in early 1966, dissatisfied by sharing drumming duties. The group evolved into a quintet with Sanders on tenor saxophone, his second wife Alice Coltrane on piano, Garrison on bass, and Ali on drums. When touring, the group was known for playing long versions of their repertoire, many stretching beyond 30 minutes to an hour. In concert, solos by band members often extended beyond fifteen minutes. The group can be heard on several concert recordings from 1966, including Live at the Village Vanguard Again! and Live in Japan, showcasing a sound that was far out and deeply experimental.
The Final Years And The Legacy Of Death
Coltrane died of liver cancer at the age of 40 on the 17th of July 1967, at Huntington Hospital on Long Island. His funeral was held four days later at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City, started by the Albert Ayler Quartet and finished by the Ornette Coleman Quartet. He is buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, New York. Biographer Lewis Porter speculated that the cause of his illness was hepatitis, attributed to his heroin use at a previous period in his life, while others noted that the needles he used to inject the drugs may have had everything to do with his liver disease. His death surprised many in the music community who were unaware of his condition, with Miles Davis stating that he didn't know he was that sick. Despite his early death, Coltrane's influence remained profound. He received a special Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and his music continues to be studied and celebrated. His second wife, Alice Coltrane, and their three children, John Jr., Ravi, and Oran, carried on his legacy, with the latter two becoming musicians themselves. The John Coltrane House in Philadelphia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1999, and his last home in Dix Hills was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Saint Of Jazz And The Church
After Coltrane's death, a congregation called the Yardbird Temple in San Francisco began worshipping him as God incarnate. The group was named after Charlie Parker, whom they equated to John the Baptist, and became affiliated with the African Orthodox Church, changing Coltrane's status from a god to a saint. The resultant St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, San Francisco, is the only African Orthodox church that incorporates Coltrane's music and his lyrics as prayers in its liturgy. Rev. F. W. King described the church as Coltrane-conscious, stating that God dwells in the musical majesty of his sounds. Coltrane is depicted as one of the 90 saints in the Dancing Saints icon of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, painted by Mark Dukes, an ordained deacon at the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. This veneration highlights the spiritual dimension of his music, which he described as a search for universal truth, studying the Qur'an, the Bible, Kabbalah, and astrology with equal sincerity. His library included The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the Bhagavad Gita, and Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, reflecting his belief in a universal musical structure that transcended ethnic distinctions. This unique blend of music and spirituality has ensured that Coltrane remains an icon not just in jazz, but in the broader cultural and spiritual landscape.