Coltrane died of liver cancer at the age of 40 on July 17, 1967 (i.e. 56 years ago from today).
Feel free to discuss anything about Coltrane and the works he has been featured in. There are many that want to dive into his extant—and some lesser known—works, so, let’s recommend and share our favorites.
Giant Steps. Always gets me going when I need to focus on some legacy code for refactoring.
Coltrane’s Sound when I’m looking for Giant Steps musical flow of consciousness while not feeling like I’ve heard it a billion times…
Then, I also adore his ballads and ballad compilation albums. I also love Coltrane’s ballad work because, IMO, he has such a muscular sound (if that makes any sense) that it adds character to his balladic passages (in contrast to Getz who was more stiff and in control at all times). Perhaps, in the visual world, what I’m describing is like if Basquiat painted a lush landscape at sunset.
Grew up with Coltrane’s music playing all the time, and absolutely love him to this day.
If I had to single out a favourite piece of his, I think it would be his version of “Summertime” from the My Favorite Things album. It’s really beautiful and quite different harmonically from so many other versions. And I can never get enough of that break after the bass solo… it keeps coming back into my head.
Other than that, I really like “A Love Supreme”. As far as his standards go, my favourites are probably “Impressions” and “Moment’s Notice”. And to mention one of my favourite collaborations of his, I’d say “In A Sentimental Mood” with Duke Ellington.
I really like ascension I; it was a difficult listen at first but, after a while you just want to listen to it again. It’s so coherent despite being, what might be called, random. Also, the intro is absolutely terrific! But I couldn’t really get into meditations: I guess because it is a work that deviates further from “non-free” jazz. Among his primary works, I don’t have a clear favorite; but the closest contender is blue train—I’ve heard people complain about the other musicians not being on par with coltrane on this album, what’s with that? ( I haven’t listened to many of his hard/post bop albums).
Sorry, if some of these posts seem “low effort” to you; I just want this community to be more active! (I think creating a weekly “what are you listening/recs” thread or, maybe, a jazz playing thread would be good, wdyt?)
I often return to the first track, Love, from First Meditations (for Quartet). It’s recorded in 1965 and the final recordings of the classic quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. Any other fans of that track out there?
“Wise One” immediately comes to mind. Such a powerful band playing gently, but without losing its strength.
Just about any version of “Afro Blue,” but the Birdland take sticks out in my mind, probably because I’ve heard that one the most.
The “My Favorite Things” from the Live at the 1965 Half Note gig goes into some really cool territory, especially during McCoy’s solo.
The “Out of This World” studio recording is also a crucial one for me.
