John Coltrane died 50 years ago this week. In the intervening decades, the saxophonist's reputation has suffered not the tiniest decline. One could comfortably list 50 essential tracks by Coltrane, but we have only so much time on this earth. To make the task a little easier, we have stuck to recordings that list Coltrane as leader. So, you won't see anything from Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. More controversially, we've excluded recordings such as the excellent rediscovered Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. The regretted exclusions were so numerous we don't even bother listing the runners-up. We begin controversially . . . Show
10. MY FAVOURITE THINGS – From The Olatanji Concert: The Last Live Recordings (1967) – This is an unusual selection, but the last extant live recording of My Favourite Things – made just months before the saxophonist's death – demonstrates quite how deep into abstraction he had passed. Begins with a bass solo. Moves on to something like a train crash. Brain juddering. 9. BLUE TRAIN – From Blue Train (1958) – Surprisingly, Coltrane made just the one recording for Blue Note records. The lengthy title track – with its drooping, much-sampled opening – is comfortably the highlight of a solid set featuring the great Lee Morgan on trumpet. 8. GIANT STEPS – From Giant Steps (1960) – Hard bop styles are revved up to create a busy chord progression that has inspired a hundred improvisations in the succeeding years. Not exactly pretty. But the intricacies are delicious, 7. CHASIN' THE TRANE – From the Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (1961) – Essentially one enormous tenor improvisation, this angular track pulls all the flavours of Coltrane's music into the same awkward package. There are genuflections to the "negro spiritual". There are gestures towards the free jazz to come. Epic. 6. NAIMA – From Giant Steps (1960) – See also the lovely, live versions on the Vanguard Recordings. Coltrane was just as capable of sweet introspection as he was of furious deconstruction. This delicate tribute to his then wife makes cunning use of a floating refrain that never quite reaches its conclusion. 5. MY FAVOURITE THINGS – From My Favourite Things (1960) – To this point the soprano saxophone had, in jazz, been associated almost exclusively with the old-school stylings of Sidney Bechet. Improvising over exultant piano chords by McCoy Tyner, Coltrane uses the instrument to make a spiralling raga of Rodgers and Hammerstein's show tune. 4. ALABAMA – From Live at Birdland (1963) – Coltrane's instrumental response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four young Alabama girls in 1963. Begins with a lament. Moves on to equivocal celebration. Returns to the lament. A powerful emotional record of a terrible time. (Despite the LP title, Alabama is a studio recording.) 3. ASCENSION Part I – From Ascension (1965) – A bit of a cheat this. The "track" is essentially an entire vinyl album. But it would be a scandal to leave out Coltrane's exhaustingly powerful experiment in big-band free jazz. Begins with a crazy fanfare to the heavens and goes on to invite solos from a host of talent including Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp. 2. A LOVE SUPREME Part I – ACKNOWLEDGMENT – From A Love Supreme (1965) – Another slight cheat. Acknowledgement is just one part of an album that forms a coherent suite on the theme of faith. The opening section is nonetheless among the most complete tracks in the Coltrane oeuvre. Begins with a famous bass line from Jimmy Garrison that plays to the album title's rhythms. Ends with the quartet chanting the words aloud. 1. INDIA – From From the Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (1961) – So much is packed into this swirling, complex live recording. The drone that sounds beneath the piece satisfies the promises made in the track's title. The falling refrain in the core riff influenced the Byrds's Eight Miles High. The version featuring Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Ahmed Abdul-Malik on tanpura and Garvin Bushell on (probably) cor anglais involves a level of ambition and experimentation that still makes the mind spin. Yet India is also a miracle of control. Its secrets are still to be fully unpicked. 10. “My Favorite Things” from My Favorite ThingsColtrane popularized the use of the soprano saxophone in jazz, and this track had a lot to do with it. “My Favorite Things” demonstrates the broad appeal of Trane’s art. He managed to take a Rogers and Hammerstein tune that everyone has heard before and turn it into a pleasantly meandering epic, one that fellow musicians gawk at for its technical prowess — yet also became a radio hit (albeit in an edited form). Instead of soloing over the tune’s chord changes, Trane solos over an extended vamp of only two chords, thus cementing the modal approach that he had been working on for a while by 1960. There’s a mesmerizing, bewitching quality about it that’s a far cry from the original tune. 9. “Oleo” from Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Miles Davis)Despite his gaining fame for the experimentalism of his later career, Trane could play straight-ahead bebop like none other as well. “Oleo”, a tune by Sonny Rollins based upon the ubiquitous “I Got Rhythm”, is the perfect vehicle for Coltrane to show off his chops and artistic creativity. “Oleo” is definitely one of the most sing-able solos in Trane’s catalog. During every chorus, he manages to throw out an improvised melody worthy of a pop song. This is Coltrane at his height with the Miles Davis Quintet. Straightforward jazz doesn’t get much better than this. 8. “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” from Coltrane’s SoundStandards have always been the hallmark of the jazz canon. As musicians learn how to play jazz, they always must contend with the repertoire of show tunes and American pop songs that often get called on the bandstand. Coltrane had a way of taking standards and twisting them to the point where they are sometimes barely recognizable. There are a multitude of examples of this phenomenon, but “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” is definitely one of my favorites. This version features an Afro-Cuban-inflected groove and a chord structure that’s modified from the original to fit the modal sounds Coltrane was embracing in 1960. Trane’s solo moves in and out of keys, while keeping the essence of the standard tune intact. Here we have a primary example of Coltrane the masterful melodic manipulator. 7. “Blue Train” from Blue TrainAbove all, Coltrane was a bluesman. He’s played so many amazing solo on blues tunes that I don’t even know where to start. There’s a reason “Blue Train” stands above the rest, though, and has become so famous. Trane’s solo on this title track swings like mad. The saxophonist is so locked in with the rhythm section that it seems like they’re inseparable. Coltrane blows his way through eight blustery choruses, rarely pausing to take a breath. “Blue Train” finds Trane at an intersection between the bebop of his early career, the blues that he would redefine throughout his life, and the technical “sheets of sound” approach that he was developing at the time. There’s something here for fans of each stage of Coltrane’s musical development. 6. “Jupiter” from Interstellar SpaceColtrane’s latter music, the stuff he was making right before his death in 1967, is controversial to say the least. Much like the final music of Beethoven, Coltrane was breaking through to something new at the end of his career, music that was wildly forward-looking and misunderstood by many. Interstellar Space was originally not released until 1974, and consists entirely of freeform duets with drummer Rashied Ali. Most of the tunes abandon principles of melodic and harmonic structure. Coltrane is playing with a kind of wild abandonment, making squeaks and squawks come out of his horn that nobody even knew existed. The interplay with drummer Ali is the glue that holds “Jupiter” together, though. It’s interesting to hear how Trane can make relevant art with essentially no parameters. In some ways, this is harder to do than when you are given many guidelines. 5. “Alabama” from Live at Birdland“Alabama” was written as a memorial to the four girls killed by white supremacists during the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Coltrane plays with the kind of sparseness and spiritual sensitivity appropriate to the subject manner. The music in and of itself serves as a eulogy. You can hear the emotions of sorrow, anger, and hope all coalescing into one solo. It’s also one of Coltrane’s most accessible solos, thus a really good place to start for anyone who’s not that familiar with his music. The opening and closing sections are out of time, with Coltrane and his band mates moving together at their own languid pace. The effect is wildly hypnotic. 4. “Resolution” from A Love SupremeA Love Supreme is justifiably one of the most well-known records of all time, jazz or otherwise. Musicians and artists from all different genres and mediums have cited Coltrane’s 1965 masterpiece as an important influence. Trane’s creative juices were really flowing here, for he was making music that was both technically brilliant and spiritually relevant. It was like Trane was channeling something here, a sort of energy that only he possessed but was kind enough to share with the world. The entire album is essential, and there really are no standout tracks or solos. “Resolution” is as representative as any, though. Trane’s solo features equal influence from the blues and the more experimental, modal music that’s a hallmark of this record. Coltrane takes a melody and shifts it through several different keys, as if to prove its versatility. 3. “Giant Steps” from Giant StepsYou haven’t really made it as a jazz musician until you learn to play on “Giant Steps” a tour de force featuring a new chord change on virtually every beat. Although this type of song structure has the potential to yield boring, mechanical music, Trane’s solo goes beyond just breathtaking on a technical level. This was the pinnacle of Trane’s “sheets of sound” approach, wherein his goal was to create music vertically (focusing upon arpeggiating chords) rather than horizontally (focusing upon creating distinct melodies). Coltrane would explore the many implications of each chord, often substituting alternative chords for the more traditional one that the listener would expect. Within the barrage of notes, though, the shifting patterns create a kind of spellbinding effect. Coltrane brilliantly returns to certain key notes to create a sense of repetition, providing an anchor for the listener. Nobody can do this like Trane. 2. “Blue in Green” from Kind of Blue (Miles Davis)When one thinks of Coltrane on the saxophone, one most likely thinks of flights of technical brilliance that leave one breathless. This is understandable, since Trane no doubt played a lot of notes during his career. However, he was also one of the greatest melodists in the history of the music. Never did his abilities to construct a beautiful melody shine through more than on “Blue in Green”, the most sublime, gorgeous track on Miles Davis’ landmark 1959 record Kind of Blue. Trane’s solo is short, but sweet. The chord changes to “Blue in Green” are complex, often shifting modalities and moods. Coltrane manages to construct a simple melody amongst all the harmonic complexity, one that is relentlessly sing-able. I often go to “Blue in Green” when I experience major events in my life, whether positive or negative. It always seems to speak to my current emotional state, and Coltrane’s sensitive solo deserves a lot of credit for the song’s power. 1. “Crescent” from CrescentHere we find Coltrane at the height of his powers, playing with perhaps the greatest ensemble in jazz history. In 1964, Trane stood betwixt and between the tonal music that had made him well-known, and the experimental, free-form jazz that would define his latter career. “Crescent” employs definite chord changes, but Trane pushes the limits of what is possible in tonal music, often slipping in and out of the keys. He never loses his sense of melodic construction, though. The more abstract moments on the record are tempered with beautiful, bluesy melodies that sound as natural as anything Coltrane has ever played. The solo’s effectiveness is enhanced by the playing of fellow musicians Jimmy Garrison (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), and McCoy Tyner (piano). Their playing is remarkably tight and calm. No matter how animated Trane gets as a soloist, they keep the groove locked down. Tyner even drops out about halfway through the solo, giving Trane all the space he needs to do his thing. Saxophonist Dave Liebman has ranked this solo as amongst Coltrane’s most memorable, citing its uniquely poetic qualities. I agree with him. John Coltrane completely changed the face of music in a recording career that lasted only a little over ten years. He was so influential in so many ways that it’s impossible to list them all. Naturally, many of his compositions have become part of the standard jazz canon, tunes that all young jazz musicians must contend with in order to be considered legit. He completely redefined the vocabulary of the genre with his “sheets of sound” and modal approaches. Coltrane revolutionized the way people play the saxophone, from his adroit use of the upper registers (known as altissimo) to his popularization of the soprano saxophone in jazz. His classic 1960s quartet is considered the apotheosis of the modern jazz combo for many. Above all, though, Coltrane played some of the most innovative, sublime, poetic solos in the history of the music. Every jazz musician aspires to capture even an iota of Trane’s musical and spiritual energy. Ranking one Coltrane solo over another is an act of absurdist thinking. Nevertheless, the process of deciding which Trane solos are the best of the best gave me a good reason to go back and listen to his catalog once again, as if an excuse is even needed. I hope you do the same. What is Coltrane's most famous song?1. “Crescent” from Crescent. Here we find Coltrane at the height of his powers, playing with perhaps the greatest ensemble in jazz history. In 1964, Trane stood betwixt and between the tonal music that had made him well-known, and the experimental, free-form jazz that would define his latter career.
What was Coltrane's most requested tune?They transformed "My Favorite Things", the cheerful populist song from 'The Sound of Music,' into a hypnotic eastern dervish dance. The recording was a hit and became Coltrane's most requested tune—and a bridge to broad public acceptance.
What is Miles Davis most famous song?Miles Davis – 10 of the best. Venus de Milo. ... . Générique. ... . So What. ... . Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio) ... . Yesterdays (Live at the Plugged Nickel) ... . Freedom Jazz Dance (Evolution of the Groove) ... . In a Silent Way. ... . Miles Runs the Voodoo Down.. What made Coltrane famous?John William Coltrane is one of the most influential jazz musicians to ever play, and today remains even more relevant than during his life. A saxophonist, he was initially drawn to the popular jazz formats of bebop and hard bop, before eventually becoming one of the guiding forces behind free jazz.
|
What is Coltranes most famous song?
direito autoral © 2024 cemle Inc.
