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Sunday, September 23, 2012

Happy Birthday John Coltrane!


I really don't have to speak too much about one of my favorite artists of all time, the jazz sax legend, John Coltrane.

On September 23, 1926, John Coltrane was born. And here we are 86 years later celebrating the birth of this divine individual.

From humble beginnings, to drug abuse, to jazz giant, Coltrane defied the odds time and time again as showed by his start from bebop, and then shifting into hard-bop as a solo artist (his "Blue Train" album remains a staple of that era in the late 50's, fooling around with modal jazz (where he became a central figure, including performing on jazz's best selling album "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis) and showcasing his capabilities with "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things", into more freedom and into avant-garde and free jazz until his death in 1967.

His seminal album,A Love Supreme, remains one of the best albums of all time and is of legendary status. I could keep talking forever, about how he was canonized as a saint by the African Orthodox Church, about his spiritual pursuits, about his immense musical contribution, but I'd rather let the man show you himself; "Impressions" from 1965, in his final years.

 

1 comment:

  1. word... this is a firey take of Impressions! the band was burning that night. Happy Birthday JC. incredible how Trane plays so many notes, and yet none of them are superfluous, his phrasing was UNIQUE

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