Few artists have been influential in jazz music as saxaphonist John Coltrane. Easch of the several major periods of his career produced classic works that remain to this day models for jazz musicians worldwide.
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| BIOGRAPHY | |||||||||||||||
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| John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, NC on September 23, 1926. Coltane began performing publicy in 1947, after leaving the military, where he performed in the Navy band. During the next few years Coltrane drifted from band to band, but didn't achieve much fmae until the mid-1950's, when he began to refine his sound under the tutelage of jazz Miles Davis. In 1955 Coltrane joined the Miles Davis Quintet as tenor saxaphonist; he quickly evolved into one of the already formidable group's strongest perfomers. Unfortunlately, in 1957 Coltrane was fired from the Quintet due to his use of heroin. After quitting drugs, Coltrane briefly worked with Thelonious Monk, then formed his own group. | |||||||||||||||
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In 1957 Coltrane recorded his first great album (some say his best) as a band leader, Blue Train. The next year he returned to the Miles Davis Quintet, where his fierce "sheets of sound" playing style earned critical raves and soon enough, a solo deal with Alantic Records. Coltrane's 1959 solo effort Giant Step, recorded with a piano-bass-drums accompaniment, certified his place in jazz history. Following the success of Giants Steps, Coltrane left the Miles Davis Quintet to begin a new group consisting of himself, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. The John Coltrane Quartet's 1960 masterpiece, My Favorites Things, introduced a new period in Coltrane's career marked by a more minimalist, hypnotic sound and extended repetitious solos. Though dimissed by some critics as "anti-jazz," Coltrane's new style made waves in the music world. | ||||||||||||||
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| Not long after the relaease of 1964's seminal work of reverence, A Love Supreme, John Coltrane began to pursue a more avant-garde direction with his band which now featured several horn players and second bassist (and later, a second drummer). Eschewing melody for sonic adventure, Coltrane's music beacme more improvisational and intense. Tragically, by 1966 his health was beginning to fail; some blamed overwork, as Coltrane was said to practice up to 12 hours a day. On July 17, 1967 at the untimely age of 40 Coltrane died from complication of liver cancer and was buried in Farmindale, New York. Few artists have been influential in jazz music as saxaphonist John Coltrane. Easch of the several major periods of his career produced classic works that remain to this day models for jazz musicians worldwide. |
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