Professor J. Southern (Managing Editor-Publisher) The Black Perspective in Music

Professor J.
Southern (Managing Editor-Publisher)
John Coltrane: A Biographical Sketch

Author(s): Richard Turner
Source: The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring, 1975), pp. 3-16+28-29
Published by: Professor J. Southern (Managing Editor-Publisher)
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JOHN COLTRANE: A BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH
BY RICHARD TURNER
rT HIS ESSAY outlines the significant musical and personal even

life of John Coltrane. Because I believe that artists are de
fluenced by their environment, at times I have linked inc
Coltrane's life to concurrent social and political events. There are
occasional gaps of information in this sketch. They occur not fro
industry on my part in searching out the facts, but rather to th
primary sources of information about Coltrane. I am indebted t
of people who assisted me in gathering information; among the
Simpkins, a medical student in New York who is writing a book o
J. C. Thomas, a New York writer who has just completed a biog
John Coltrane; and finally, three musicians-Bill Robinson, John
James Eady-who answered my technical questions and help
analyze Coltrane's music.
John William Coltrane, the only son of Alice Blair Coltrane a
Coltrane, was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, on 23 September
early childhood was spent in High Point, North Carolina, where
great-grandfather and grandfather had been ministers in the lo
(African Methodist Episcopal Zion) Church. Although John was
pupil in grammar school, he left a mediocre high-school record.
encouraged by his father, who played several instruments as a ho
early displayed an interest in and aptitude for music. He learned
E-flat alto horn and the clarinet at the age of eleven and switch
alto saxophone in high school.1
Immediately after graduating from the William Penn High
1943, Coltrane and Frank Bower, a childhood friend, left for Ph
For a while, John lived with his first cousin, Mary Greenlee, w
tempted to earn his living as a laborer. Eventually he enrolled at t
Studios in Philadelphia, where he studied music for two year
learn all that he could about music, Coltrane became one of Gran
standing students. During his matriculation, he was never late f
and he spent many hours daily in practice, perfecting his techn
alto saxophone and improving his compositions. Teachers and stu
were so impressed by his dedication and natural ability that the
upon him the nickname, "Tenant of the School." After completin
year program at Granoff, John studied further at the Ornstein
Music.
By 1945 Coltrane felt that he had received an adequate education in

music. He entered the professional world in that year, making his debut with
a cocktail combo in Philadelphia. Shortly after the engagement came to an
end, he was drafted into the armed forces. From mid 1945 through most of
4 THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE IN MUSIC
1946, Coltrane was stationed at a naval base in Manana,

played in the navy band.
After his discharge from the service in 1946, Coltrane
try in which race relations, economics, and morals were
deed 1946 marked the beginning of a new phase in Am
Baraka best describes this period of transition, the pos
The period that saw bebop develop, during and after Worl
unstable time for most Americans. There was a need for radic
demands of the postwar world. The riots throughout the cou
related to the psychological tenor of that time as the emergen
? . . The great interest in the Muslim religion by Negro music
adds to the image of the Negro in America at that time.2
Indeed Baraka's preceeding statement is quite accura

Americans had seen Germany and the United States
most despicable acts of violence in the history of man
slaughter of six million Jews and the senseless bombin
Hiroshima. It was only natural that these two acts and t
of the war should change the way in which sensitive Am
reacted to their environment.
In regard to Afro-American culture, one of the most significant changes
of the war years occurred in music. In 1942 several black jazzmen began to
participate in nightly jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem. These
musicians rejected the roles of "entertainers" for themselves, preferring in-
stead to regard themselves as artists. They had become dissatisfied with
the static state of "swing" and had begun developing a new form of jazz
called "bebop," which was based on harmonic improvisation and eighth
notes rather than the melodic improvisation and quarter notes of swing.
This new kind of jazz allowed the musician more freedom to improvise and
to give vent to his emotions. In addition, it had a more natural and assymetri-
cal sound than its predecessor, swing. The music of the innovators of this
new jazz-Theolonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gil-
lespie-deeply influenced Coltrane's playing when he returned to Phila-
delphia in 1946. Although John was most particularly impressed by Charlie
"Bird" Parker's intense and highly individualistic style on the alto sax, it is
a mark of his individuality that he did not attempt to copy Bird. Instead,
he sought to find his own way in bebop.
Coltrane had his first experience with the tenor saxophone in 1947, when
Eddie Vinson hired him as a tenor player. Much to his delight, "Trane" soon
discovered that no single tenor player dominated the whole field as did
Parker on the alto. Rather, there were numerous exceptional players from
whom he could draw inspiration. In Coltrane's own words
[I learned] simplicity from Lester Young, and well something from them all. . . . There
were many things that people like Hawk, Ben, and Tab Smith were doing in the 40s that
I didn't understand, but that I felt emotionally.3
JOHN COLTRANE: A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 5
From the latter part of 1947 until the end of 1948, Coltrane worked alter-
nately with Joe Webb, King Kolax, Howard McGhee, and Jimmy Heath.4
In 1948, John began experimenting with hard drugs and eventually be-
came addicted to heroin. Although there is little available information
about this aspect of Coltrane's life, one can speculate about the motives
underlying his drug habit. Perhaps he was first led to experiment with
drugs by two older musicians whom he idolized, Miles Davis and Charlie
Parker, for it is known that these two men were heavy users of alcohol and
narcotics in the late forties. It is more likely, however, that Coltrane's
drug habit was developed in reaction to the rejection of his music (bebop)
by the critics and the general public. Even some of the black jazzmen
spurned bebop in the 1940s. Louis Armstrong, for example, commmented
about "boppers" as follows:
They want to carve everyone because they're so full of malice . . . All they want
to do is to show you up, and any old way will do as long as it's different from the way
you played before. So you get all them weird chords which don't mean nothing, and first
people get curious about it, just because it's new, but soon they get tired of it because
it's really no good.5
John was not allowed to play bebop in many of the clubs in which he
worked, being forced instead to play the popular tunes that the general
public wished to hear. One must remember that jazz was not generally ac-
cepted as a respectable form of musical expression in the 1940s, and jazzmen
of that era often were viewed as "weirdoes" and degenerates. All of these
negative factors undoubtedly contributed to Coltrane's emotional insta-
bility during the late forties and ultimately to his dependence on drugs.
Coltrane began working with Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band in 1949. In that
year, Dizzy had begun to question the relevancy of the new music (bebop)
which he had helped to pioneer seven years earlier. His main gripe against
bebop was that people could not dance to it; Gillespie realized that his
ability to sell records and to make a living depended upon the popularity of
his music among young people. Despite Dizzy's awareness of this fact, he
remained committed to bebop. Consequently, he lost his recording contract
in 1950 and was forced to reduce his big band to a small group. In 1951
Dizzy disbanded his group, which still included Coltrane, and proclaimed
the death of bop with these parting words:
Like the guys that would come into my band . . . they seem to have a different state of
mind from guys going into other bands. They don't think about showing. They think it
would be a drag if people were to think they like what they're doing. ... If you want
to make a living at music, you've got to sell it.6
Coltrane differed from many of his contemporaries in regard to his

philosophy about music. He did not regard bop primarily as a source of
income but rather as a means of musical expression. At the end of his gig
with Gillespie, John returned to Philadelphia, disheartened, but determined
to find his own form of musical expression. Back in

began drinking quite heavily in order to suppress his d
found himself hopelessly hooked on both alcohol and
personal weaknesses, however, the musicians in Philade
things to come from John Coltrane. Even while he wa
maintained his dedication to music, often practicing
hours a day. John had two important engagements dur
the first was with Earle Bostic, and the second was with
was quite excited about these dates for he greatly ad
musicians.
The year 1955 marked the beginning of Coltrane's five-year partnershi
with Miles Davis. By this time, jazz had calmed down considerabl
Whereas the boppers of the 1940s had attempted to tear down all of the
laws upon which jazz had formerly been based, the jazzmen of the 1950s
sought to consolidate the innovations of bebop with the basic elements o
its precursor, swing. The result of this synthesis was a new kind of jazz,
which appropriately was given the name of "cool jazz." The calm and con-
trolled sound of cool jazz was indicative of the attitudes of Afro-American
during the 1950s. That decade was the calm before the storm that revolu
tionized both the racial attitudes and the music of black Americans in the
1960s. Baraka points this out in his definition of the term "cool":
The term cool in its original context meant a specific reaction to the world, a specific
relationship to one's environment. It defined an attitude that actually existed. To be cool
was, in its most accessible meaning, to be calm, even unimpressed, by what horror the
world might daily propose. As a term used by Negroes, the horror, etc., might be simply
the deadeningly predictable mind of white America. In a sense this calm, or stoical, re-
pression of suffering is as old as the Negro's entrance into slave society. ... It is per-
haps the flexibility of the Negro that has let him survive; his ability to be cool-to be calm,
unimpressed, detached, perhaps to make failure as secret a phenomenon as possible.7
When John began playing with Miles in 1955, the latter musician was
the chief innovator in what Baraka calls the "post-bop-cool approach" to
jazz. Although Davis's rhythmical freedom and phrasing characterized him
as a bopper-he played frequently with Dizzy and Bird during the 1940s-
his lyrical and intimate style on the trumpet and his strong inclination for
playing popular ballads identified him as an adherent of the cool approach
to jazz. The first album on which Coltrane was featured, Round About Mid-
night (1955), indicates that he had indeed been influenced by Miles's "cool
style." John's horn throughout the album, but particularly on the title cut,
has a restrained, refined, and pretty sound that is characteristic of the cool
style of jazz.
Although Miles encouraged Trane's apprenticeship, Trane improved his
technique primarily by playing with the Quintet and by listening to their
recordings. During his first two years with Davis, Coltrane began to edit
his own solos, to use extended chord progressions, and to make rudimentary
harmonic explorations. He also learned through his experiences with Miles
how to make sure that any song that he wrote was performed at its mos
effective tempo. Moreover, he was encouraged to try his hand at writing
in different modes. Trane responded gratefully to all of this, calling Mil
"The Teacher." Coltrane was heard on two albums in 1956: Tenor Mad-
ness, with Sonny Rollins, and Mating Call, with Tadd Dameron. John's
inspired, lucid, lyrical solo on the cut, "On a Misty Night" from the latter
album, forced many critics to take notice of his talents for the first time.
1957 was a crucial year in Coltrane's life. The first significant event in
this year involved Miles's firing of the entire Quintet without any notice
and his rehiring a new band. It seems that John and the other members of
the Quintet had been intoxicated too frequently and had gotten into the
habit of showing up late for rehearsals and performances. Miles hired
Sonny Rollins to replace Coltrane.
The loss of his position with the Quintet shocked Trane. He idolized
Miles and valued his close personal contact with the band leader. Trane
was sure that he would soon be rehired. When that did not happen, he got
his own group together, but he found out one night that his facility on the
horn was completely gone. Immediately he stopped using both narcotics
and alcohol and went to his bedroom, where he sat quietly by a window
for three days. His wife, Naima, became worried, for she thought that
Coltrane was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. During these three
days of solitude (Coltrane later told Naima) he heard the most beautiful
faraway sound of drones he could imagine. For the rest of his life he
tried to recapture the sound but never succeeded. John had experienced a
spiritual awakening. He felt that God had touched him and had revealed to
him that people could be uplifted by music. He later wrote,
During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual wakening
which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude,
I humbly asked to be given the means and the privilege to make others happy through
music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.8
In the summer of 1957, Trane began his legendary seven-month engage-

ment with Theolonius Monk at New York's Five Spot Cafe. Monk, the
"High Priest" of bebop, had not been influenced by the cool style of jazz as
had been his colleague, Miles Davis. Trane found Monk to be an inspiring
teacher. "Working with Monk," said Coltrane, "brought me close to a musi-
cal architect of the highest order. I learned from him in every way. I would
talk to Monk about musical problems and he would sit at the piano and
show me the answers by playing them." 9
Monk's style of accompaniment is based upon an arrangement of iso-
lated or contiguous groups of notes which contrast with one another by
means of sudden changes of register. This conception of pianistic accom-
paniment makes great demands on the soloist, for his sense of musical time
and space must be quite keen in order to follow Monk's changes. Although
some have said that Theolonius Monk does not give soloists any support, I
would tend to agree with Andre Hodeir that, on the co

them a new kind of support which jars with the more tr
of Miles, but which might be capable of stimulating the
gifts of a less-assured soloist." 10 Truly this is what Monk
In listening to "Monk's Mood" from the album Theolonius
Coltrane, which was recorded before John became a re
Monk's group, one perceives that John, unaccustomed
changes of register and rhythmic twists, falls a shade behi
of the piano accompaniment. In the cut of "Ruby, My
three months later, after Coltrane had served part of his
under Monk, thd tenor and the piano play together beaut
During the months that followed, Monk sharpened Trane's
time and space; he encouraged his apprentice to experime
harmonic improvisations; and, most important, he inspired
the playing of chords on his saxophone.
In early 1958, Miles rehired his old group. Coltrane's in
Monk, combined with his spiritual awakening, had radica
playing. Naturally, the sound of the Miles Davis Quinte
same degree. The Miles Davis Quintet modal cuts, such
"All Blues" from the Columbia album, Kind of Blue, chan
in which modem jazz had been moving since the 1940s. Th
composed of a few chords which were related to a domin
a way that they permitted the soloist to continue his impr
sort of blues scale without paying heed to the actual bar b
of the chords. Consequently, the musician was given mor
harmonic space in which to improvise. This innovation
new kind of "long-form" improvisation that could be appl
song. Eventually, Coltrane would use Miles's "modal fram
harmonic improvisation to its ultimate stage.1l
Bahia, Trane's last album for Prestige (Prestige 7353
that he was definitely moving into new areas of musical e
1959. His solo on the title cut of the album has a fierce, w
a mysterious Eastern flavor; and for the first time, he seem
the listener through his horn. In 1960 Coltrane left the Qu
own group. One writer states that Coltrane
was becoming restricted within the Davis context, and though the
still very evident in his recordings outside of it, Coltrane did enjoy
the necessary opportunity to probe and explore further dimensions i
In 1959, Coltrane had signed a contract with Atlantic. Th

this period made him famous. The original John Coltrane
Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, an
drums.
1960 was a noteworthy year for John. His group m
May 15 at the Jazz Gallery' in Greenwich Village. More im
the year in which his first Atlantic album, Giant Steps, was issued. The tit
cut of this album is a landmark in the history of music for it signals the
"evolutionary conclusion" of one period of jazz (bebop) and the beginning
of another (free jazz). Perceptive listeners realized that Coltrane uninten-
tionally was driving bebop into the ground by breaking it down from withi
Since he played so many notes so quickly in the piece, he was forced t
play the notes in uneven groups of fives and sevens "in order to get them a
in." By juxtaposing clusters of five or seven notes against the four beats
played by the rhythm section, John produced new kinds of tension that
were resolved in unexpected places. This consequently caused the forma-
tion of new anticipations in the listener, and jazzmen began hailing this ne
feeling as "freedom." 13
The musical revolution that John Coltrane initiated with Giant Steps
must be viewed as a part of, or at least in the context of, the Black Revolu
tion, which began to demand nationwide attention in 1960. For just a
Trane was seeking to free jazz of the confusing laws of bebop, black
throughout the nation were seeking to free themselves of the racially oppre
sive laws of white America. The black yearning for freedom in 1960 had
manifested itself not only in music, but also in the widespread sit-in dem
onstrations against segregated lunch counters. In addition, blacks fought
for the guarantee of voting rights to all black Americans.
In early 1961, Coltrane began his initial experiments with the soprano
saxophone, an instrument which had been neglected by jazzmen since Sid-
ney Bechet. At the same time he discovered a popular song which had
"folklike simplicity," and a harmonic structure that would accommodate hi
explorations on the soprano. The song, "My Favorite Things," became the
title cut of an album that sold 100,000 copies during its first year and won
widespread public recognition for John.
Apparently, the soprano opened up a new means of musical exploration
for Coltrane, for what he did with that instrument on "My Favorite Things
was nothing less than amazing. In the first place, he demonstrated a thor
ough technical proficiency on an instrument that few musicians had dare
to play previously because of its highly temperamental and uncontrollable
nature. Second, he built complex improvisations on a song whose simpl
but nevertheless rigid structure would allow only the most imaginative of
musicians any leeway for experimentation. Third, John changed completely
the melodic structure of the tune while his rhythm section laid low and
simply repeated the melody. Faced with all these musical variables, he stil
managed to make My Favorite Things one of the most popular jazz albums
of the twentieth century.
John consciously began looking toward the East for musical ideas; and
inspiration in mid-1961. In that year, he started to correspond with Ravi
Shankar and began to show avid interest in both Eastern philosophy and
music. He concentrated his attention particularly on the Indian raga in
order to incorporate some of its elements into his own music. The result of
this synthesis was "India," a Coltrane composition whose

relationship to Indian music are best analyzed by Frank
"Like a raga, ["India"] is based . . .on one of Coltrane's favo

mode or scale. . . . Underlying the scale is the tonic note or in ra
The supporting instruments serve both to establish the scale and
constant rhythmic counterpoint against the main [solo] instrum
and Coltrane's music have much in common. What sets them apa
greater diversity that can be obtained with the Western instrum
bass, drum kit) and especially the immense power that this instr
capable of generating. Liberated from the tyranny of one cycle
peated, Coltrane used this new freedom to introduce into musi
credibly moving and incredibly human sounds ever played on any
Concurrently with his fascination for Indian culture, J

by a new friend, Olatunji, who stimulated his interest
and music. Convinced that American jazz had borrowed
African music but perplexed as to how to the two mus
harmonically, Coltrane began to listen to African recor
inspiration. Finally, a composition began to take sh
which he decided to use African polyrhythms instead o
meter. Coltrane commented about this composition:
I had a sound that I wanted to hear. And what resulted was about it. I wanted the
band to have a drone. We used two basses. The main line carries all the way through
the tune. One bass plays almost all the way through. The other has rhythmic lines
around it.15
The instrumentation of "Africa" (alto saxophone, trumpet, four French

horns, piano, tuba, two euphoniums, two basses, and drums) generates a
surging and powerful sound quite unlike any of John's previous composi-
tions.
Inasmuch as Coltrane's preoccupation with Indian and African cultures
indicated new trends in his music, perhaps it would be wise to briefly
examine the rationale behind these interests. "Music, being an expression of
the human heart," he once said, "does express just what is happening. I feel
it expresses . . . the whole of human experience." 16 Obviously, Trane had
been in tune with the spirit of non-Western cultures long before he began
to take a formal interest in them. Indian and African cultures proceed from
the premise that all of life is sacred and that music and all other artistic
endeavors are expressions of life. Consequently the ideals and principles
underlying them must be applied to every aspect of existeice.17 Westerners,
on the other hand, view art as an entity whose ideals and principles are above
social application and seek to limit the arts to a certain class of people. In
"Africa" and "India" Coltrane was trying to tell us that it is time to reassess
Western value structures and to change the role of art in Western Society.
The albums, Live at the Village Vanguard and Impressions indicated
that Coltrane had definitely gone his own way in the world of music. By
this time he had taken Eric Dolphy into his band. Trane's music began to
have a strangely human sound filled with unrestrained shrieks, screams, and
honks. He added more percussion to his band in order to produce a poly-
rhythmic texture, which unintentionally deemphasized the role of the
piano. Perplexed and even frightened by this strange new sound, many of
the critics openly attacked Coltrane's new music as "antijazz." In doing so,
these self-proclaimed arbiters of jazz demonstrated their own musical
ignorance. One critic alleged, for example, in a review of Coltrane's Africa/
Brass album that Coltrane "makes everything into a handful of chords."
Actually, two of the three cuts on Africa/Brass are based on modes, not
chords.18
Eventually, criticism of John's new sound became so severe that he of-
fered, in a Downbeat article, to meet with the critics in order to explain his
music. Unfortunately, he received no response. He said,
I thought if they were really genuinely interested or felt there was something here,
that instead of just condemning what you don't know about . . . let's talk about it.
But no one ever came forth, so I don't think they wanted to know what I had to say
about it.19
In order to appease the disapproving public and Prestige Records as

well, Coltrane put an end to his experimentation for a short time and re-
corded Ballads, with Johnny Hartman, in late 1962. John's playing on this
album has such a mellow and gentle quality he seems to be consciously
interpreting the lyrics of each ballad on his horn. Ballads and Impressions
are indeed worlds apart.
The year 1963 saw the Coltrane Quartet at its apex in regard to both
popularity and money. From this time until his death, Coltrane earned be-
tween $60,000 and $70,000 each year. In terms of musical accomplishment,
John's legendary performance at Birdland on 8 October 1963 established
him as the master of the soprano saxophone. Trane initiated no radical revi-
sions of jazz. He simply played the soprano with such emotional fervor
and frightening lyricism that those who heard him were moved to another
level of consciousness. Inamu Baraka, who was present at Birdland, after-
wards remarked,
There. is a daringly human quality to John Coltrane's music that makes itself felt,
wherever he records. If you can hear, this music will make you think of a lot of weird
and wonderful things. You might even become one of them.20
"Afro-Blue," the outstanding cut of the date, consists basically of a simple,

repetitive melody, which is stated by Coltrane on the soprano. Gradually
the melody fades into the background as it is overshadowed by the powerful
piano and drum solos of McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones respectively. At the
conclusion of the composition, Coltrane restates the melody "amidst crash-
ing cymbals and the bombarded tom-toms" of Elvin Jones.
On 15 September 1963 four black girls were murdered

plosion in Birmingham's Sixteenth-Street Baptist Church.
prompted Coltrane to compose "Alabama," a work whose r
ture corresponds to the cadence of Dr. King's eulogy of th
girls.21 When questioned about the nature of the composi
sponded, "It represents, musically, something that I saw d
lated into music from inside me." 22 What the listener is p
slow, sensitive, instrumental sound, whose melancholy ch
what dissected by the rising drum solo of Elvin Jones in
The overall impression of the composition is frightening,
and yet somehow beautiful.
1964 was a year of triumph for the Civil Rights Moveme
it was the year in which Congress finally passed a com
Rights Act that prohibited racial discrimination in most p
accommodation. It was also a year, however, of tragedy
throughout the nation and the murders of three young civ
in Philadelphia, Mississippi. 1964 was the year in which Jo
doubtedly influenced by the tragic events, composed a muc
for peace, A Love Supreme. He dedicated his composition t
Him for having been awakened spiritually in 1957. John ne
that year he had been granted the means and the privilege
happy through his music.23
A Love Supreme is Coltrane's most masterful and polish
summary of all of his purposes, moods, and talents. Moreo
beginning of John's explorations of new musical horiz
divided into four parts: "Acknowledgement," "Resolutio
and "Psalm."
At the beginning of "Acknowledgement," Coltrane introduces a simple,
short, and Indian-flavored melody. Throughout the entire composition he
builds scalar variations on the four or five notes that are a part of this initial
tune. He explores all of the traditional ways of improvising in his handling
of the "A Love Supreme" melody. Throughout most of "Acknowledgement,"
Coltrane plays a vigorous, lyrical, surging solo against the steady and
vibrant background music of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garri-
son. At the end of the first part, Trane and the rest of the group repeatedly
intone the words, "A love supreme." "Resolution" has a simple framework
with few complex changes. Coltrane goes a bit farther in his embellishment
of the original melody in this section. In addition, the piano and drums play
solos that reflect the influence of bop. "Pursuance" begins with an accom-
panied drum solo played by Elvin Jones, which leads into wild piano and
tenor sax solos, both of which climb in chordal outlines that recall similar
passages in "Giant Steps." Then Jimmy Garrison plays a long bass solo that
leads directly into the fourth part of the work, "Psalm." Trane's long solo in
"Psalm" is distinctive for its high, sobbing lyricism. A continuously rolling
drum in the background gives the piece great tension. All in all, the ominous
and deeply emotional tone of this last section gives a prayer-like quality t
the music that is beautiful but also quite frightening.
A Love Supreme is the first of several albums in which Coltrane seeks to
lift his listeners to a high spiritual level. The work must be viewed, there
fore, not only in a musical context but also in a religious one. Coltrane wa
so affected by the work that he experienced a second spiritual awakening
From that time on, John was praying ninety percent of the time during
which he was playing, and he saw God at least once. A Love Supreme
signalled the turning point in Coltrane's career in regard to both the critic
evaluation of his music and his own appraisal of it. In 1965 Trane's musica
genius finally was acknowledged by jazz critics throughout the nation
Kofsky lists some of the numerous awards that John won in that single
year:
named to the Hall of Fame; his album A Love Supreme selected as "Record of the Year;"
. . .elected to first place in the tenor saxophone category by the voters in the Downbeat
Readers Poll; honored as "Jazzman of the Year" for the "Jazz Composition of the Year"
and for the "Jazz Album of the Year;" . .24
Quite justifiably one jazz publication called the year 1965 the "Year of John
Coltrane."
The quality of Coltrane's music changed drastically after A Love
Supreme. Kulu se Mama, released in 1965, is representative of succeeding
Coltrane albums and offers marked contrasts to most of his earlier works.25
Special emphasis is given to the drums on Kulu se Mama. The percussionists
are Juno Lewis, Frank Butler, and Elvin Jones. Lewis, the composer of
"Kulu se Mama," is a Creole conga player and drum maker. His perform-
ance, combined with those of the other percussionists, produce an authentic
African polyrhythmic sound. In addition to congas, Coltrane added other
rhythm instruments to his group in 1965: shakers, tambourines, maracas,
and bells. His preoccupation with percussion and new rhythms lasted until
his death in 1967. He explained his motivation as follows:
I feel the need for more time, more rhythm all around me. And with more than one
drummer, the rhythm can be more multi-directional. Someday, I may add a company
of drummers.26
At another time Trane discussed further his feeling about rhythm, "I want
more of the sense of the expansion of time." 27
For the albums Kulu se Mama and Om Coltrane uses a device that he
had first used on A Love Supreme-vocalization. At the beginning of Kulu se
Mama Juno Lewis chants a poem in Entobes, an African creole dialect. The
use of vocalization, a distinctive characteristic of African folk music, was
for Trane another way to draw upon the African heritage. Indeed, during
the last two years of his life he drew more heavily than ever upon African
styles and techniques. In 1966 he said, "I intend to make a trip to Africa to
gather whatever I can find, particularly the musical sources." 28 Unfortu-
nately he did not live to make the trip.
From 1965 on, Coltrane began to exploit the diversity

ranges of sound that were possible on the tenor saxoph
an increasing disregard for rules (such as improvising on
ture) that might limit the freedom of his horn. His play
years of his life was distinguished by high-pitched tone
His entire group indulged in these musical aberrations,
a whirlpool of deeply emotional and awe-inspiring s
solos, which might last as long as two hours, were so p
tionally taxing that he frequently hired a second tenor
ders, to supplement his own playing. Coltrane said abou
What I like about him is the strength of his playing, the convicti
He has will and spirit, and those are the qualities I like most in
These words of Coltrane suggest two spiritual concern

preoccupied him during the final years of his life. The
developing his own inner strength-was also the concern
Afro-Americans who became Black Muslims during the
same concern had motivated Malcolm X finally to attack
of the Black Muslim movement and to speak out in
brotherhood. What Malcolm verbalized, Coltrane tried
sic. He wanted to create a universal music to which
nationalities, and religions could relate. The second con
Trane during this period was his search for the meanin
albums Om and Meditations indicate the extent to whic
go in exploring new dimensions of sound in his efforts
mate significance of his life and his music. He felt that
true meaning of life only by completely refining his em
sic. This interest in purification, in breaking down his
mental qualities, has its roots in Buddhist philosophy. Tr
come into contact with such ideas from Ravi Shankar,
scholar on his own with curiosity that knew no bounds.
and built up a library of over 1,000 volumes, mainly o
mysticism. In preparation for A Love Supreme, for exa
Bible, the Koran, the Bhavaghad Gita, and various Budd
interests included such disparate activities as study of
relativity and, on an entirely different level, drawing
Asia. There was one constant thread of continuity amo
ties: they were all related in some way to his music.
The years 1965-66 were notable for two decisive ev
life. As stated above, it was in 1965 that the character
began to change so dramatically. Inevitably, a conflict
members of the groups. Pianist McCoy Tyner, for exam
lay out during a considerable part of each set because o
character of the music. In December 1965 Tyner left th
his own band. Coltrane replaced him with Alice Coltran
In March 1966 drummer Elvin Jones ended his five-year association with
Coltrane. Apparently, Elvin left because of his lack of accord with the kind
of music played by the group. Just before he left, he remarked, "Only poets
can understand it."
In July 1966 John Coltrane played a concert in Japan that proved to be
his last engagement. Although the date was his most memorable one because
of the enthusiastic reception to his music given by the Japanese, it was also
his most strenuous one. He played for three continuous weeks. The musi-
cians who accompanied Trane to Japan later said that they frequently saw
him clutching his stomach during the course of his playing. After returning
to the States, John went into seclusion until December.
Trane's last album, Expression, was recorded in February 1967, although
it was not given a title until summer. When consulted about the liner notes
for the recording, Coltrane said:
I would like to put an album with absolute no notes, just the titles of the songs and the
personnel. By this point I don't know what else can be said in words about what I'm
doing. Let the music speak for itself.32
Coltrane played his last club date on 23 May 1967 at Olatungi's African
Cultural Center in Harlem.
On 17 July 1967 John William Coltrane succumbed to cancer of the liver.
His funeral took place at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York on 21
July. The service, entitled "A Love Supreme," was attended by over 1,000
relatives, friends, fans, and fellow musicians. Flowers sent by Nina Simone,
Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, and numerous others
bordered Trane's casket, overspread with yellow roses and white lilies. The
Albert Ayler Quartet began the service by playing "Truth is Marching." On
two occasions Ayler stopped playing and screamed. Instead of using the
conventional benediction, the Reverend John Garcia Gensel, minister to the
jazz community in New York, closed the service with the following lines
written by Coltrane:
May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm, and after the
rain-it is all with God, in all the ways and forever. All praise to God. With love to all, I
thank you.
As the mourners left the church, the Omette Coleman Quartet played "Holi-
day for a Graveyard." 33
Boston, Massachusetts
NOTES
1 Liner notes, Giant Steps (Atlantic 1311).

2 Imanu Baraka=LeRoi Jones, Blues People (New York: William Morrow,
p. 210.
3 Liner notes, My Favorite Things (Atlantic 1361).
4 Liner notes, Giant Steps.
5 John Wilson, Jazz: the Transition Years, 1940-60 (New York: Meredith Publ
Company, 1966), p. 19.
6 Ibid., p. 24.
7 Jones, Blues People, p. 213.
8 Liner notes, A Love Supreme (Impulse A-77).
9 Liner notes, Theolonius Monk/John Coltrane (Milestone M-47011).
10 Andre Hodeir, Toward Jazz (New York: Grove Press, 1962), p. 168.
11 Ben Sidran, Black Talk (New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, 1971),
12 Robert Levin, Liner notes, Bahia (Prestige 7353).
13 Sidran, Black Talk, p. 138.
14 Frank Kofsky, Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music (New York: C
Scribner's Sons, 1970), p. 193.
15 Liner notes, Africa/Brass (Impulse A-6).
16 Kofsky, Black Nationalism, p. 225.
17 Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (New York: Harcourt, Brac
World, 1959), p. 167.
19 Ibid., p. 236.
20 LeRoi Jones, Black Music (New York: William Morrow and Company,
p. 67.
21 Liner notes, Live at Birdland (Impulse S-10).
22 Jones, Black Music, p. 67.
23 Liner notes, A Love Supreme.
25 The exceptions are "Africa" and "India."
26 Liner notes, Meditations (Impulse AS-9110).
27 Liner notes, Om (Impulse S-9140).
29 Liner notes, New Things at Newport (Impulse S-94).
30 Liner notes, Meditations.
31 Sidran, Black Talk, p. 148.
32 Liner notes, Expression (Impulse S-9120).
33 The New York Times, "Coltrane is Given a Jazzman's Funeral Here," 22 July 1967.
NOTICE: This Program is FREE

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gI Friday Night, August 6, 1915

Professor J. Southern (Managing Editor-Publisher) The Black Perspective in Music

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John Coltrane: A Biographical Sketch

Professor J. Southern (Managing Editor-Publisher) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

rT HIS ESSAY outlines the significant musical and personal even

By 1945 Coltrane felt that he had received an adequate education in

1946, Coltrane was stationed at a naval base in Manana,

Indeed Baraka's preceeding statement is quite accura

Coltrane differed from many of his contemporaries in regard to his

to find his own form of musical expression. Back in

In the summer of 1957, Trane began his legendary seven-month engage-

would tend to agree with Andre Hodeir that, on the co

In 1959, Coltrane had signed a contract with Atlantic. Th

this synthesis was "India," a Coltrane composition whose

"Like a raga, ["India"] is based . . .on one of Coltrane's favo

Concurrently with his fascination for Indian culture, J

The instrumentation of "Africa" (alto saxophone, trumpet, four French

In order to appease the disapproving public and Prestige Records as

"Afro-Blue," the outstanding cut of the date, consists basically of a simple,

On 15 September 1963 four black girls were murdered

From 1965 on, Coltrane began to exploit the diversity

These words of Coltrane suggest two spiritual concern

1 Liner notes, Giant Steps (Atlantic 1311).

NOTICE: This Program is FREE

TAKE THIS HOME WITH YOU

Col ored Music I Department of

Thursday and Friday Evenings, Eight o'Clock

TlIS EN'IIRE BUILDING HEATED BY

86-88 Edgewood Aven

WE GUARANTEE OUR WORK

TAKE THIS HOME WITH YOU

Sixth Annual Music Festiva

The Georgia Music Festial Association

gI Friday Night, August 6, 1915

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