Hopping on the Trane
If there is a name you need to familiarize yourself with if you intend to be interested in jazz, it would probably be John Coltrane. In my experience, even more than names like Dizzy, Bird and Miles, you hear the name of John Coltrane. Heck, Lucinda Williams has a song that specifically mentions listening to John. Coltrane’s music plays a significant role in the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus” starring Richard Dreyfuss.
Even I have to admit having an admiration for the man. I am not the world’s biggest expert on Mr. Coltrane. I am one of those folks who feel that his later works are just noise. I am not a fan of Ornette Coleman either because, to me, avante garde jazz is just loud noise played without any construction or control. It’s the kind of music that makes me think “I could do that” and any music that does that is hard for me to admire.
However, I have to admit admiring two albums of Mr. Coltrane. These are important albums in the history of jazz, and key albums to have in your collection. The first is the only one he ever did for the Blue Note label and is, appropriately enough, entitled “Blue Train.” The next album is one he did of self-composed tunes called “Giant Steps” and the title track is still considered one of the most complex in the world of jazz music.
Coltrane is yet another musician who died too young. He was only 40 when liver cancer took him. At the time it was reported he was seeing a Hindu sort of faith-healer to cure his ailment instead of using Western medicine, but his wife has since repeatedly denied this.
Coltrane is another musician who played with very key and influential jazz musicians. Once you find the two albums mentioned above, you may want to seek out the ones he did with Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis. He also played with Dizzy for a time.
His influence is still felt today. For some reason, Coltrane’s work seems to influence rock and roll artists more than just about any other jazz musician. At the very least, it is considered very hip and cool to mention him as an influence if you are a popular rock or pop musician.
If you would like a more-detailed biography of Coltrane, click HERE and check out this well-written Wikipedia article about him.
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