John William Coltrane (Hamlet, North Carolina, September 23, 1926 – Huntin… Read Full Bio ↴John William Coltrane (Hamlet, North Carolina, September 23, 1926 – Huntington, New York, July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
American jazz great John Coltrane emerged in the 1950s, playing tenor and soprano sax with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. A leader of "hard bop", in the 1960s he led his own groups and changed the face of jazz with experimentation and improvisation, his later recordings reflecting his belief that music was a form of spiritual expression. Sometimes called simply 'Trane, his recordings include Giant Steps (1959), My Favorite Things (1960), Olé (1961) and A Love Supreme (1964). In his later recordings he collaborated on avante-garde music with his wife, Alice Coltrane (b. Alice McLeod, 1937-2007), who had a career in her own right.
The band sometimes called Coltrane's "classic quartet" of the early 1960s included McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Jimmy Garrison (bass).
Despite a relatively brief career (he first came to notice as a sideman at age 29 in 1955, formally launched a solo career at 33 in 1960, and was dead at 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane was among the most important, and most controversial, figures in jazz. It seems amazing that his period of greatest activity was so short, not only because he recorded prolifically, but also because, taking advantage of his fame, the record companies that recorded him as a sideman in the 1950s frequently reissued those recordings under his name and there has been a wealth of posthumously released material as well. Since Coltrane was a protean player who changed his style radically over the course of his career, this has made for much confusion in his discography and in appreciations of his playing. There remains a critical divide between the adherents of his earlier, more conventional (if still highly imaginative) work and his later, more experimental work. No one, however, questions Coltrane's almost religious commitment to jazz or doubts his significance in the history of the music.
Coltrane was the son of John R. Coltrane, a tailor and amateur musician, and Alice (Blair) Coltrane. Two months after his birth, his maternal grandfather, the Reverend William Blair, was promoted to presiding elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church and moved his family, including his infant grandson, to High Point, NC, where Coltrane grew up. Shortly after he graduated from grammar school in 1939, his father, his grandparents, and his uncle died, leaving him to be raised in a family consisting of his mother, his aunt, and his cousin. His mother worked as a domestic to support the family. The same year, he joined a community band in which he played clarinet and E flat alto horn; he took up the alto saxophone in his high school band. During World War II, his mother, aunt, and cousin moved north to New Jersey to seek work, leaving him with family friends; in 1943, when he graduated from high school, he too headed north, settling in Philadelphia. Eventually, the family was reunited there.
While taking jobs outside music, Coltrane briefly attended the Ornstein School of Music and studied at Granoff Studios. He also began playing in local clubs. In 1945, he was drafted into the navy and stationed in Hawaii. He never saw combat, but he continued to play music and, in fact, made his first recording with a quartet of other sailors on July 13, 1946. A performance of Tadd Dameron's "Hot House," it was released in 1993 on the Rhino Records anthology The Last Giant. Coltrane was discharged in the summer of 1946 and returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he began playing in the Joe Webb Band. In early 1947, he switched to the King Kolax Band. During the year, he switched from alto to tenor saxophone. One account claims that this was as the result of encountering alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and feeling the better-known musician had exhausted the possibilities on the instrument; another says that the switch occurred simply because Coltrane next joined a band led by Earl Bostic, who was an alto player, forcing Coltrane to play tenor. He moved on to Jimmy Heath's band in mid-1948, staying with the band, which evolved into the Howard McGhee All Stars until early 1949, when he returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he joined a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie, remaining until the spring of 1951, by which time the band had been trimmed to a septet. On March 1, 1951, he took his first solo on record during a performance of "We Love to Boogie" with Gillespie.
At some point during this period, Coltrane became a heroin addict, which made him more difficult to employ. He played with various bands, mostly around Philadelphia, during the early '50s, his next important job coming in the spring of 1954, when Johnny Hodges, temporarily out of the Duke Ellington band, hired him. But he was fired because of his addiction in September 1954. He returned to Philadelphia, where he was playing, when he was hired by Miles Davis a year later. His association with Davis was the big break that finally established him as an important jazz musician. Davis, a former drug addict himself, had kicked his habit and gained recognition at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, resulting in a contract with Columbia Records and the opportunity to organize a permanent band, which, in addition to him and Coltrane, consisted of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer "Philly" Joe Jones. This unit immediately began to record extensively, not only because of the Columbia contract, but also because Davis had signed with the major label before fulfilling a deal with jazz independent Prestige Records that still had five albums to run. The trumpeter's Columbia debut, 'Round About Midnight, which he immediately commenced recording, did not appear until March 1957. The first fruits of his association with Coltrane came in April 1956 with the release of The New Miles Davis Quintet (aka Miles), recorded for Prestige on November 16, 1955. During 1956, in addition to his recordings for Columbia, Davis held two marathon sessions for Prestige to fulfill his obligation to the label, which released the material over a period of time under the titles Cookin' (1957), Relaxin' (1957), Workin' (1958), and Steamin' (1961).
Coltrane's association with Davis inaugurated a period when he began to frequently record as a sideman. Davis may have been trying to end his association with Prestige, but Coltrane began appearing on many of the label's sessions. After he became better known in the 1960s, Prestige and other labels began to repackage this work under his name, as if he had been the leader, a process that has continued to the present day. (Prestige was acquired by Fantasy Records in 1972, and many of the recordings in which Coltrane participated have been reissued on Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics [OJC] imprint.)
Coltrane tried and failed to kick heroin in the summer of 1956, and in October, Davis fired him, though the trumpeter had relented and taken him back by the end of November. Early in 1957, Coltrane formally signed with Prestige as a solo artist, though he remained in the Davis band and also continued to record as a sideman for other labels. In April, Davis fired him again. This may have given him the impetus finally to kick his drug habit, and freed of the necessity of playing gigs with Davis, he began to record even more frequently. On May 31, 1957, he finally made his recording debut as a leader, putting together a pickup band consisting of trumpeter Johnny Splawn, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, pianists Mal Waldron and Red Garland (on different tracks), bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Al "Tootie" Heath. They cut an album Prestige titled simply Coltrane upon release in September 1957. (It has since been reissued under the title First Trane.)
In June 1957, Coltrane joined the Thelonious Monk Quartet, consisting of Monk on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Shadow Wilson on drums. During this period, he developed a technique of playing several notes at once, and his solos began to go on longer. In August, he recorded material belatedly released on the Prestige albums Lush Life (1960) and The Last Trane (1965), as well as the material for John Coltrane With the Red Garland Trio, released later in the year. (It was later reissued under the title Traneing In.) But Coltrane's second album to be recorded and released contemporaneously under his name alone was cut in September for Blue Note Records. This was Blue Train, featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Kenny Drew, and the Miles Davis rhythm section of Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones; it was released in December 1957. That month, Coltrane rejoined Davis, playing in what was now a sextet that also featured Cannonball Adderley. In January 1958, he led a recording session for Prestige that produced tracks later released on Lush Life, The Last Trane, and The Believer (1964). In February and March, he recorded Davis' album Milestones..., released later in 1958. In between the sessions, he cut his third album to be released under his name alone, Soultrane, issued in September by Prestige. Also in March 1958, he cut tracks as a leader that would be released later on the Prestige collection Settin' the Pace (1961). In May, he again recorded for Prestige as a leader, though the results would not be heard until the release of Black Pearls in 1964.
Coltrane appeared as part of the Miles Davis group at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1958. The band's set was recorded and released in 1964 on an LP also featuring a performance by Thelonious Monk as Miles & Monk at Newport. In 1988, Columbia reissued the material on an album called Miles & Coltrane. The performance inspired a review in Down Beat, the leading jazz magazine, that was an early indication of the differing opinions on Coltrane that would be expressed throughout the rest of his career and long after his death. The review referred to his "angry tenor," which, it said, hampered the solidarity of the Davis band. The review led directly to an article published in the magazine on October 16, 1958, in which critic Ira Gitler defended the saxophonist and coined the much-repeated phrase "sheets of sound" to describe his playing.
Coltrane's next Prestige session as a leader occurred later in July 1958 and resulted in tracks later released on the albums Standard Coltrane (1962), Stardust (1963), and Bahia (1965). All of these tracks were later compiled on a reissue called The Stardust Session. He did a final session for Prestige in December 1958, recording tracks later released on The Believer, Stardust, and Bahia. This completed his commitment to the label, and he signed to Atlantic Records, doing his first recording for his new employers on January 15, 1959, with a session on which he was co-billed with vibes player Milt Jackson, though it did not appear until 1961 with the LP Bags and Trane.
In March and April 1959, Coltrane participated with the Davis group on the album Kind of Blue. Released on August 17, 1959, this landmark album known for its "modal" playing (improvisations based on scales or "modes," rather than chords) became one of the best-selling and most-acclaimed recordings in the history of jazz. In between the sessions for the album, Coltrane began recording what would be his Atlantic Records debut, Giant Steps, released in early 1960. The album, consisting entirely of Coltrane compositions, in a sense marked his real debut as a leading jazz performer, even though the 33-year-old musician had released three previous solo albums and made numerous other recordings. His next Atlantic album, Coltrane Jazz, was mostly recorded in November and December 1959 and released in February 1961. In April 1960, he finally left the Davis band and formally launched his solo career, beginning an engagement at the Jazz Gallery in New York, accompanied by pianist Steve Kuhn (soon replaced by McCoy Tyner), bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Pete La Roca (later replaced by Billy Higgins and then Elvin Jones). During this period, he increasingly played soprano saxophone as well as tenor.
In October 1960, Coltrane recorded a series of sessions for Atlantic that would produce material for several albums, including a final track used on Coltrane Jazz and tunes used on My Favorite Things (March 1961), Coltrane Plays the Blues (July 1962), and Coltrane's Sound (June 1964). His soprano version of "My Favorite Things," from the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical The Sound of Music, would become a signature song for him. During the winter of 1960-1961, bassist Reggie Workman replaced Steve Davis in his band and saxophone and flute player Eric Dolphy, gradually became a member of the group.
In the wake of the commercial success of "My Favorite Things," Coltrane's star rose, and he was signed away from Atlantic as the flagship artist of the newly formed Impulse! Records label, an imprint of ABC-Paramount, though in May he cut a final album for Atlantic, Olé (February 1962). The following month, he completed his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass. By this time, his playing was frequently in a style alternately dubbed "avant-garde," "free," or "The New Thing." Like Ornette Coleman, he played seemingly formless, extended solos that some listeners found tremendously impressive, and others decried as noise. In November 1961, John Tynan, writing in Down Beat, referred to Coltrane's playing as "anti-jazz." That month, however, Coltrane recorded one of his most celebrated albums, Live at the Village Vanguard, an LP paced by the 16-minute improvisation "Chasin' the Trane."
Between April and June 1962, Coltrane cut his next Impulse! studio album, another release called simply Coltrane when it appeared later in the year. Working with producer Bob Thiele, he began to do extensive studio sessions, far more than Impulse! could profitably release at the time, especially with Prestige and Atlantic still putting out their own archival albums. But the material would serve the label well after the saxophonist's untimely death. Thiele acknowledged that Coltrane's next three Impulse! albums to be released, Ballads, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, and John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman (all 1963), were recorded at his behest to quiet the critics of Coltrane's more extreme playing. Impressions (1963), drawn from live and studio recordings made in 1962 and 1963, was a more representative effort, as was 1964's Live at Birdland, also a combination of live and studio tracks, despite its title. But Crescent, also released in 1964, seemed to find a middle ground between traditional and free playing, and was welcomed by critics. This trend was continued with 1965's A Love Supreme, one of Coltrane's best-loved albums, which earned him two Grammy nominations, for jazz composition and performance, and became his biggest-selling record. Also during the year, Impulse! released the standards collection The John Coltrane Quartet Plays... and another album of "free" playing, Ascension, as well as New Thing at Newport, a live album consisting of one side by Coltrane and the other by Archie Shepp.
1966 saw the release of the albums Kulu Se Mama and Meditations, Coltrane's last recordings to appear during his lifetime, though he had finished and approved release for his next album, Expression, the Friday before his death in July 1967. He died suddenly of liver cancer, entering the hospital on a Sunday and expiring in the early morning hours of the next day. He had left behind a considerable body of unreleased work that came out in subsequent years, including "Live" at the Village Vanguard Again! (1967), Om (1967), Cosmic Music (1968), Selflessness (1969), Transition (1969), Sun Ship (1971), Africa/Brass, Vol. 2 (1974), Interstellar Space (1974), and First Meditations (For Quartet) (1977), all on Impulse! Compilations and releases of archival live recordings brought him a series of Grammy nominations, including Best Jazz Performance for the Atlantic album The Coltrane Legacy in 1970; Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for "Giant Steps" from the Atlantic album Alternate Takes in 1974; and Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Afro Blue Impressions in 1977. He won the 1981 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Bye Bye Blackbird, an album of recordings made live in Europe in 1962, and he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, 25 years after his death.
John Coltrane is sometimes described as one of jazz's most influential musicians, but one is hard put to find followers who actually play in his style. Rather, he is influential by example, inspiring musicians to experiment, take chances, and devote themselves to their craft. The controversy about his work has never died down, but partially as a result, his name lives on and his recordings continue to remain available and to be reissued frequently.
American jazz great John Coltrane emerged in the 1950s, playing tenor and soprano sax with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. A leader of "hard bop", in the 1960s he led his own groups and changed the face of jazz with experimentation and improvisation, his later recordings reflecting his belief that music was a form of spiritual expression. Sometimes called simply 'Trane, his recordings include Giant Steps (1959), My Favorite Things (1960), Olé (1961) and A Love Supreme (1964). In his later recordings he collaborated on avante-garde music with his wife, Alice Coltrane (b. Alice McLeod, 1937-2007), who had a career in her own right.
The band sometimes called Coltrane's "classic quartet" of the early 1960s included McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Jimmy Garrison (bass).
Despite a relatively brief career (he first came to notice as a sideman at age 29 in 1955, formally launched a solo career at 33 in 1960, and was dead at 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane was among the most important, and most controversial, figures in jazz. It seems amazing that his period of greatest activity was so short, not only because he recorded prolifically, but also because, taking advantage of his fame, the record companies that recorded him as a sideman in the 1950s frequently reissued those recordings under his name and there has been a wealth of posthumously released material as well. Since Coltrane was a protean player who changed his style radically over the course of his career, this has made for much confusion in his discography and in appreciations of his playing. There remains a critical divide between the adherents of his earlier, more conventional (if still highly imaginative) work and his later, more experimental work. No one, however, questions Coltrane's almost religious commitment to jazz or doubts his significance in the history of the music.
Coltrane was the son of John R. Coltrane, a tailor and amateur musician, and Alice (Blair) Coltrane. Two months after his birth, his maternal grandfather, the Reverend William Blair, was promoted to presiding elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church and moved his family, including his infant grandson, to High Point, NC, where Coltrane grew up. Shortly after he graduated from grammar school in 1939, his father, his grandparents, and his uncle died, leaving him to be raised in a family consisting of his mother, his aunt, and his cousin. His mother worked as a domestic to support the family. The same year, he joined a community band in which he played clarinet and E flat alto horn; he took up the alto saxophone in his high school band. During World War II, his mother, aunt, and cousin moved north to New Jersey to seek work, leaving him with family friends; in 1943, when he graduated from high school, he too headed north, settling in Philadelphia. Eventually, the family was reunited there.
While taking jobs outside music, Coltrane briefly attended the Ornstein School of Music and studied at Granoff Studios. He also began playing in local clubs. In 1945, he was drafted into the navy and stationed in Hawaii. He never saw combat, but he continued to play music and, in fact, made his first recording with a quartet of other sailors on July 13, 1946. A performance of Tadd Dameron's "Hot House," it was released in 1993 on the Rhino Records anthology The Last Giant. Coltrane was discharged in the summer of 1946 and returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he began playing in the Joe Webb Band. In early 1947, he switched to the King Kolax Band. During the year, he switched from alto to tenor saxophone. One account claims that this was as the result of encountering alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and feeling the better-known musician had exhausted the possibilities on the instrument; another says that the switch occurred simply because Coltrane next joined a band led by Earl Bostic, who was an alto player, forcing Coltrane to play tenor. He moved on to Jimmy Heath's band in mid-1948, staying with the band, which evolved into the Howard McGhee All Stars until early 1949, when he returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he joined a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie, remaining until the spring of 1951, by which time the band had been trimmed to a septet. On March 1, 1951, he took his first solo on record during a performance of "We Love to Boogie" with Gillespie.
At some point during this period, Coltrane became a heroin addict, which made him more difficult to employ. He played with various bands, mostly around Philadelphia, during the early '50s, his next important job coming in the spring of 1954, when Johnny Hodges, temporarily out of the Duke Ellington band, hired him. But he was fired because of his addiction in September 1954. He returned to Philadelphia, where he was playing, when he was hired by Miles Davis a year later. His association with Davis was the big break that finally established him as an important jazz musician. Davis, a former drug addict himself, had kicked his habit and gained recognition at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, resulting in a contract with Columbia Records and the opportunity to organize a permanent band, which, in addition to him and Coltrane, consisted of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer "Philly" Joe Jones. This unit immediately began to record extensively, not only because of the Columbia contract, but also because Davis had signed with the major label before fulfilling a deal with jazz independent Prestige Records that still had five albums to run. The trumpeter's Columbia debut, 'Round About Midnight, which he immediately commenced recording, did not appear until March 1957. The first fruits of his association with Coltrane came in April 1956 with the release of The New Miles Davis Quintet (aka Miles), recorded for Prestige on November 16, 1955. During 1956, in addition to his recordings for Columbia, Davis held two marathon sessions for Prestige to fulfill his obligation to the label, which released the material over a period of time under the titles Cookin' (1957), Relaxin' (1957), Workin' (1958), and Steamin' (1961).
Coltrane's association with Davis inaugurated a period when he began to frequently record as a sideman. Davis may have been trying to end his association with Prestige, but Coltrane began appearing on many of the label's sessions. After he became better known in the 1960s, Prestige and other labels began to repackage this work under his name, as if he had been the leader, a process that has continued to the present day. (Prestige was acquired by Fantasy Records in 1972, and many of the recordings in which Coltrane participated have been reissued on Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics [OJC] imprint.)
Coltrane tried and failed to kick heroin in the summer of 1956, and in October, Davis fired him, though the trumpeter had relented and taken him back by the end of November. Early in 1957, Coltrane formally signed with Prestige as a solo artist, though he remained in the Davis band and also continued to record as a sideman for other labels. In April, Davis fired him again. This may have given him the impetus finally to kick his drug habit, and freed of the necessity of playing gigs with Davis, he began to record even more frequently. On May 31, 1957, he finally made his recording debut as a leader, putting together a pickup band consisting of trumpeter Johnny Splawn, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, pianists Mal Waldron and Red Garland (on different tracks), bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Al "Tootie" Heath. They cut an album Prestige titled simply Coltrane upon release in September 1957. (It has since been reissued under the title First Trane.)
In June 1957, Coltrane joined the Thelonious Monk Quartet, consisting of Monk on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Shadow Wilson on drums. During this period, he developed a technique of playing several notes at once, and his solos began to go on longer. In August, he recorded material belatedly released on the Prestige albums Lush Life (1960) and The Last Trane (1965), as well as the material for John Coltrane With the Red Garland Trio, released later in the year. (It was later reissued under the title Traneing In.) But Coltrane's second album to be recorded and released contemporaneously under his name alone was cut in September for Blue Note Records. This was Blue Train, featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Kenny Drew, and the Miles Davis rhythm section of Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones; it was released in December 1957. That month, Coltrane rejoined Davis, playing in what was now a sextet that also featured Cannonball Adderley. In January 1958, he led a recording session for Prestige that produced tracks later released on Lush Life, The Last Trane, and The Believer (1964). In February and March, he recorded Davis' album Milestones..., released later in 1958. In between the sessions, he cut his third album to be released under his name alone, Soultrane, issued in September by Prestige. Also in March 1958, he cut tracks as a leader that would be released later on the Prestige collection Settin' the Pace (1961). In May, he again recorded for Prestige as a leader, though the results would not be heard until the release of Black Pearls in 1964.
Coltrane appeared as part of the Miles Davis group at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1958. The band's set was recorded and released in 1964 on an LP also featuring a performance by Thelonious Monk as Miles & Monk at Newport. In 1988, Columbia reissued the material on an album called Miles & Coltrane. The performance inspired a review in Down Beat, the leading jazz magazine, that was an early indication of the differing opinions on Coltrane that would be expressed throughout the rest of his career and long after his death. The review referred to his "angry tenor," which, it said, hampered the solidarity of the Davis band. The review led directly to an article published in the magazine on October 16, 1958, in which critic Ira Gitler defended the saxophonist and coined the much-repeated phrase "sheets of sound" to describe his playing.
Coltrane's next Prestige session as a leader occurred later in July 1958 and resulted in tracks later released on the albums Standard Coltrane (1962), Stardust (1963), and Bahia (1965). All of these tracks were later compiled on a reissue called The Stardust Session. He did a final session for Prestige in December 1958, recording tracks later released on The Believer, Stardust, and Bahia. This completed his commitment to the label, and he signed to Atlantic Records, doing his first recording for his new employers on January 15, 1959, with a session on which he was co-billed with vibes player Milt Jackson, though it did not appear until 1961 with the LP Bags and Trane.
In March and April 1959, Coltrane participated with the Davis group on the album Kind of Blue. Released on August 17, 1959, this landmark album known for its "modal" playing (improvisations based on scales or "modes," rather than chords) became one of the best-selling and most-acclaimed recordings in the history of jazz. In between the sessions for the album, Coltrane began recording what would be his Atlantic Records debut, Giant Steps, released in early 1960. The album, consisting entirely of Coltrane compositions, in a sense marked his real debut as a leading jazz performer, even though the 33-year-old musician had released three previous solo albums and made numerous other recordings. His next Atlantic album, Coltrane Jazz, was mostly recorded in November and December 1959 and released in February 1961. In April 1960, he finally left the Davis band and formally launched his solo career, beginning an engagement at the Jazz Gallery in New York, accompanied by pianist Steve Kuhn (soon replaced by McCoy Tyner), bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Pete La Roca (later replaced by Billy Higgins and then Elvin Jones). During this period, he increasingly played soprano saxophone as well as tenor.
In October 1960, Coltrane recorded a series of sessions for Atlantic that would produce material for several albums, including a final track used on Coltrane Jazz and tunes used on My Favorite Things (March 1961), Coltrane Plays the Blues (July 1962), and Coltrane's Sound (June 1964). His soprano version of "My Favorite Things," from the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical The Sound of Music, would become a signature song for him. During the winter of 1960-1961, bassist Reggie Workman replaced Steve Davis in his band and saxophone and flute player Eric Dolphy, gradually became a member of the group.
In the wake of the commercial success of "My Favorite Things," Coltrane's star rose, and he was signed away from Atlantic as the flagship artist of the newly formed Impulse! Records label, an imprint of ABC-Paramount, though in May he cut a final album for Atlantic, Olé (February 1962). The following month, he completed his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass. By this time, his playing was frequently in a style alternately dubbed "avant-garde," "free," or "The New Thing." Like Ornette Coleman, he played seemingly formless, extended solos that some listeners found tremendously impressive, and others decried as noise. In November 1961, John Tynan, writing in Down Beat, referred to Coltrane's playing as "anti-jazz." That month, however, Coltrane recorded one of his most celebrated albums, Live at the Village Vanguard, an LP paced by the 16-minute improvisation "Chasin' the Trane."
Between April and June 1962, Coltrane cut his next Impulse! studio album, another release called simply Coltrane when it appeared later in the year. Working with producer Bob Thiele, he began to do extensive studio sessions, far more than Impulse! could profitably release at the time, especially with Prestige and Atlantic still putting out their own archival albums. But the material would serve the label well after the saxophonist's untimely death. Thiele acknowledged that Coltrane's next three Impulse! albums to be released, Ballads, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, and John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman (all 1963), were recorded at his behest to quiet the critics of Coltrane's more extreme playing. Impressions (1963), drawn from live and studio recordings made in 1962 and 1963, was a more representative effort, as was 1964's Live at Birdland, also a combination of live and studio tracks, despite its title. But Crescent, also released in 1964, seemed to find a middle ground between traditional and free playing, and was welcomed by critics. This trend was continued with 1965's A Love Supreme, one of Coltrane's best-loved albums, which earned him two Grammy nominations, for jazz composition and performance, and became his biggest-selling record. Also during the year, Impulse! released the standards collection The John Coltrane Quartet Plays... and another album of "free" playing, Ascension, as well as New Thing at Newport, a live album consisting of one side by Coltrane and the other by Archie Shepp.
1966 saw the release of the albums Kulu Se Mama and Meditations, Coltrane's last recordings to appear during his lifetime, though he had finished and approved release for his next album, Expression, the Friday before his death in July 1967. He died suddenly of liver cancer, entering the hospital on a Sunday and expiring in the early morning hours of the next day. He had left behind a considerable body of unreleased work that came out in subsequent years, including "Live" at the Village Vanguard Again! (1967), Om (1967), Cosmic Music (1968), Selflessness (1969), Transition (1969), Sun Ship (1971), Africa/Brass, Vol. 2 (1974), Interstellar Space (1974), and First Meditations (For Quartet) (1977), all on Impulse! Compilations and releases of archival live recordings brought him a series of Grammy nominations, including Best Jazz Performance for the Atlantic album The Coltrane Legacy in 1970; Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for "Giant Steps" from the Atlantic album Alternate Takes in 1974; and Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Afro Blue Impressions in 1977. He won the 1981 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Bye Bye Blackbird, an album of recordings made live in Europe in 1962, and he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, 25 years after his death.
John Coltrane is sometimes described as one of jazz's most influential musicians, but one is hard put to find followers who actually play in his style. Rather, he is influential by example, inspiring musicians to experiment, take chances, and devote themselves to their craft. The controversy about his work has never died down, but partially as a result, his name lives on and his recordings continue to remain available and to be reissued frequently.
Out of This World
John Coltrane Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Out of This World' by these artists:
A$AP Rocky Get money addict, I'ma get "Money" tatted Money in the attic…
A.S.K A different city every night right And they be going so…
Al-One Aye, Aye, Aye, Look Lil shorty bad, like an alien she's…
And Again So when I just got here I was just a bit…
Angra So now I see How nice it could be To rocket through…
Arlen Out of This World You're clear out of this world When I'm…
Armin van Buuren I want more than you can give I'm so cold…
Astroqueen This Is Fuzz From the Gods, are you worthy to…
Barbara Mason If this world were mine, I'd place at your feet All…
Billy May; Ella Fitzgerald You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Bing Crosby You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Black Flag I'm out of this world and I'm never comin' back…
Brian L. Green The wind is moving But I am standing still A life of…
Bush When we die we go into the arms of those…
Caterina Valente You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Cody Webb I've heard it in songs, I've read it in Luke I…
Collins Edwyn I've been prayin', I'm prayin' that you come to your…
Connor Chris You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Cosmic Blush Your smile,gets me every single time I see you your eyes,tak…
Cosmic Blush feat. Proto Zoa Your smile, It gets me ev'ry time I see you. Your eyes…
David Pedersen I've been asking myself why, She even looked my way.…
Davis Gaines You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Dean Martin / Frank Sinatra / Sammy Davis Jr. You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Dee-L When my faith had almost died I hid my face and…
Digicult Attention, attention All crew members Prepare for landing …
dok & martin Take me back to the heartland Away from this desert…
duke ellington & his orchestra You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Duncan Davis You so out of this world yah You so out this…
Edenbridge The sleeping giant Entangled Am I Ended in deadlock Mist…
Edwyn Collins I've been prayin', I'm prayin' that you come to your…
Elektric Music Don't you get me wrong When I carry on To look at…
Ella Fitzgerald You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Exit Strategy no. 21 I came to town for a buckshot fame Through the dirt…
Frank Comstock and His Orchestra You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Frank Sinatra Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr. You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Frank Sinatra Sammy Davis Jr. And Dean Martin You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Freakwater It's almost time now It's almost over Sooner than later I'…
Freda Payne You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Geck-e You're looking at me, I say what the fuck You're pushing…
Gentleman's Dub Club Out Of This World lyrics Let's get out of this world Into…
George Shearing You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
George Shearing and Mel Torme You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Gerald Wilson And His Orchestra You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Gloria Lynne You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
GOVALES Looking, searching, lost and found Oh my heart goes round an…
H.Arlen You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Harold Arlen You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Hit Co. Big Band As I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death Broken…
Ikarus I'm so gone my mind is filled with pain Everyday a…
j.j. johnson & kai winding You’re the beginning you are the end A genuine feeling I…
J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding Quintet 어쩌다가 떨어져 내렸을까? 도망치듯 살아왔던 날 찰나의 순간들을 떠올려 작아진 너를 꺼내어 본다 어디선가…
Jamie Cullum You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Jean-Franзois Freitas HIdupku Duniaku Bangun Tidur Langsung Mandi Tidak Lupa Goso…
Jo Stafford You're clear out of this world. When I'm looking at you I…
Joanie Sommers You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Johnny Mathis All day long before my eyes come little visions of…
Jonas Brothers It was cloudy on that night There were no stars in…
Jones Take me to another place Far from everything To another wo…
Julie Andrews You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Kai Winding & J. J. Johnson You’re the beginning you are the end A genuine feeling I…
Kai Winding J. J. Johnson 어쩌다가 떨어져 내렸을까? 도망치듯 살아왔던 날 찰나의 순간들을 떠올려 작아진 너를 꺼내어 본다 어디선가…
KING'S SINGERS / SHEARING You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Kosheen Momentary sensory paralysis Moments cut like shards of broke…
Kosheen (2007 - Damage) Momentary sensory paralysis Moments cut like shards of brok…
Kreisel Dok & Martin Nothing makes sense anymore In this screwed up world I don't…
Lena Horne You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Lester Lam The whole world has to know The truth should be…
Livingston Taylor Out Of This World Ouch! I’m stubbing my toes on moonbeams …
London Elektricity Walking for miles, in my town I am searching for smiles…
London Elektricity Feat. Liane Carroll Okay Walking for miles in my town I am searching for…
Marillion Three hundred miles an hour on water In your purpose-built m…
Mark Seymour Radio’s alive with little voices Calling out across the afte…
Marvin Gaye If this world were mine, I'd place at your feet All…
mel tormé & george shearing You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Mel Tormé & George Shearing You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
mel torm� & george shearing You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Michael W Smith Take stock of your life What's wrong and what's right Empt…
Michael W. Smith The wind is moving But I am standing still A life of…
Mr. Dean Everything seems ok He's playing the perfect game Everything…
Nancy Wilson You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Neon Hitch Hold me, I'm yours tonight. Get me all starry eyed I just…
Nnenna Freelon Three hundred miles an hour on water In your purpose-built m…
Nostradameus I gaze into my crystal ball and what do I see A…
Obelus Everybody better duck the fuck down I'm going for the KILL…
OddBox Romance I use to think Should feel blue 'Til I met you Now I…
Ozark Henry I remember things Names and addresses I remember voices A…
Payne Freda You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Paynes The temperature has reached about 10,000 degrees.. The sweat…
Pink Cream 69 Used to be just stories told No real signs, no laid…
Proto Zoa Out of this world (this world) Out of this world (this…
Rainbow High I'm gonna be a star We can be whatever you want…
Ramp When I look into people They're looking into me How hard I…
Rashad Let's take a space trip When I'm with you, girl it…
Rat Pack You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
Sarah Vaughan You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Shakatak Sleep softly through a dream see how it might have been tw…
Smashproof feat. Get Well I met her through a friend of mine couldnt feel a…
Stan Getz You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Stan Kenton In this whole wide world, Is there no one to love…
Steve Kilbey Almost polite, they point a finger Chase the muslin designs …
Steve Wynn You, are so hypnotic You, so metronomic You do something t…
Surfin' Charlie Walking the streets with the devil on my back in…
Taylor Livingston Out Of This World Ouch! I’m stubbing my toes on moonbeams …
Terry Snyder and the All Stars If this world were mine, I'd place at your feet All…
The Bush When we die we go into the arms of those…
The Canadian Band of the A.E.F. You're looking at me, I say what the fuck You're pushing…
The Chiffons Out of this world That's where you take me Every time you…
The Cure When we look back at it all as I know…
The Darkness Asking questions. Would like to understand. Nowhereland. The…
The Detroit Cobras You really got something that's out of this world Gonna lea…
The Draytones Well some singers sing sweet songs about love But there is…
The Dreamers Uuuuh And I'll pray for you And I'll pray for you Praying fo…
The Paynes The temperature has reached about 10,000 degrees.. The sweat…
The Rat Pack You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you, I…
The Teas We won't work this out We won't work this out I'm falling…
Tim Finn T. Finn There's vapour flowing like a bridal gown From t…
Tony Bennett You're clear out of this world When I'm looking at you I…
Victor Vernicos Yeah Mmmm Dear island I've been Tryna find my freedom in t…
Vostok-1 Aye, Aye, Aye, Look Lil shorty bad, like an alien she's…
Winger I'm just a man Understand Searching for the promised land Th…
Zenon Your smile,gets me every single time I see you your eyes,tak…
_sam You lost me With your double time edge By trying to keep…
•Jonas Brothers It was cloudy on that night There were no stars in…
We have lyrics for these tracks by John Coltrane:
'Round Midnight It begins to tell, 'round midnight, midnight. I do pretty we…
01. Stairway to the Stars Let's build a stairway to the stars And climb that stairway…
09 Spring Is Here Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing? Spring is…
1Bye Bye Blackbird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
4 Of the wonderful things that you get out of life…
A Love Supreme A love supreme…
A Love Supreme Pt. 3: Pursuance Chant-like: A love supreme Supreme, supreme…
A Love Supreme Pt. I A love supreme…
Africa I hear the drums echoing tonight But she hears only whisper…
Afro Blue Newton-John Olivia Xanadu Magic (Olivia Newton-John) Come…
After the Rain Behind your eyes, dark clouds are formin' I see his memory…
Ain Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears W…
Alabama Moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair All the world…
All or Nothing At All All or nothing at all Half a love, never appealed to…
Angelica Angelica cuando te nombro Me vuelve a la memoria Un…
Ascension Part I A love supreme…
Autumn Leaves The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of…
Autumn Serenade Through the trees comes autumn with her serenade. Melodies t…
Bakai John Coltrane - tenor saxophone Johnnie Splawn - trumpet S…
Black Pearls Hey I've been runnin' Since I don't know when Runnin' i…
Body and Soul My heart is sad and lonely For you I sigh, for…
But Not for Me Old man sunshine listen you Never tell me dreams come true J…
Bye No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Bye_Bye_Blackbird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Centerpiece The more I'm with you pretty baby The more I feel…
Chronic Blues There's no point in asking You'll get no reply Oh just rem…
Could Write A Book If they ask me, I could write a book About the…
Countdown [Instrumental]…
Dear Old Stockholm Dear old Southland I hear you calling me. And I long…
Dear Old Stockholm* Dear old Southland I hear you calling me. And I long…
Dedicated to You If I should write a book for you That brought me…
Don Ever since the lucky night I found you I've hung around…
Don't Blame Me Ever since the lucky night I found you I've hung around…
Easy to Love I know too well that I'm just wasting precious time In…
Equinox Meet me on the Equinox Meet me half way When the sun…
Exactly Like You I used to have a perfect sweetheart Not a real one,…
Falling In Love With Love I weave with brightly colored strings To keep my mind off…
Four Of the wonderful things that you get out of life…
From this moment on From this moment on You for me, dear Only two for tea,…
Giant Steps [Instrumental]…
How Deep Is the Ocean How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie How…
How Deep Is the Ocean? How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie How…
Hown Long Has This Been Going on As a tot, when I trotted in little velvet panties, I…
I I wish I knew someone like you could love me I…
I Could Write A Book If they ask me, I could write a book About the…
I got it bad Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears W…
i mean you I'll get by As long as I have you Though there be…
I Never Knew You, get me feelin' crazy There always on my mind And I…
I Wish I Knew I wish I knew someone like you could love me I…
I'll Get By I'll get by As long as I have you Though there be…
If I Ask me how do I feel, Now that we're cosy and…
If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You If there is someone lovelier than you Then I am blind,…
If There is Someone Lovelier You If there is someone lovelier than you Then I am blind,…
In a Sentimental Mood In a Sentimental Mood I can see The stars come through…
It Might as Well Be Spring I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
It's a Good Day Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears W…
Jupiter Searching in the sky one night, while looking for the…
Just for the Love Love for sale Appetizing young love for sale Love that's fre…
Just Friends Just friends, lovers no more Just friends, but not like befo…
Just Squeeze Me Want you to know I go for your squeezin' Want you…
Just You Just you, just me Let's find a cozy spot To cuddle and…
Just You Just Me Just you, just me Let's find a cozy spot To cuddle and…
Just YouJust Me Just you, just me Let's find a cozy spot To cuddle and…
Like Someone in Love Lately, I find myself out gazing at stars, Hearing guitars…
Limehouse Blues And those weird China blues Never go away Sad, mad blues For…
Little Old Lady Little old lady passing by Catching everyone's eye You hav…
Love The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an…
Love for Sale Love for sale Appetizing young love for sale Love that's fre…
Love Is Everywhere There is no greater love Than what I feel for you No…
Love Supreme Pt. 1: Acknowledgement Chant-like: A love supreme Supreme, supreme…
Love Thy Neigbor Love thy neighbor, Walk up and say "How be ya Gee! But…
Love Thy Neighbour "Love thy neighbor and you will find your labor A great…
Lover You went away I let you We broke the ties that bind I…
Lush Life I used to visit all the very gay places Those come-what-may…
Miles Point me at the red planet I want to get my…
Moment From this moment on You for me, dear Only two for tea,…
Mr. P.C. [Instrumental]…
My Favorite Things Raindrops on roses and Whiskers on kittens Bright copper ket…
My Little Brown Book ""My little brown book With the silver binding How it…
My One And Only Love The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an…
Naima [Instrumental]…
Nature Boy There was a boy A very strange Enchanted boy They say he…
On Green Dolphin Street It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened A…
On It They say that falling love is wonderful It's wonderful, so t…
Once in a While Once in a while will you try to give One little…
One And Only Love The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an…
One By One I wish I knew someone like you could love me I…
Part 1 A love supreme…
Polka Dots and Moonbeams A country dance was being held in a garden I felt…
Rise Rise 'n' shine, Stand up and take it! Rise 'n' shine, Lif…
Round About Midnight It begins to tell, 'round midnight, midnight. I do pretty we…
Saturn I ask Him when will I be free He said…
Solitude In my solitude You haunt me With dreadful ease Of days gone …
Something I Dreamed Last Night I can't believe that you're not here with me To have…
Speak Low Speak low when you speak, love, Our summer day withers away…
Spiral [Instrumental]…
Spiritual Jesus I don't wanna die alone Jesus, oh Jesus I don't wan…
Spring Is Here Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing? Spring is…
Stairway To The Stars Let's build a stairway to the stars And climb that stairway…
Stardust And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the…
Stars Fell on Alabama Moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair All the world…
Stella By Stardust The song a robin sings Through years of endless springs The …
Summertime Summertime and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' and the…
Sweet and Lovely Sweet and lovely sweeter than the roses in May Sweet and…
Syeeda's Song Flute [Instrumental]…
The Believer Never mind all the things you heard about me You're never…
The Way You Look Tonight There was a time I was everything and nothing all in…
Then I You look at me and wonder, you look at me…
There Is No Greater Love There is no greater love Than what I feel for you No…
They Say It They say that falling love is wonderful It's wonderful, so …
They Say It's Wonderful They say that falling love is wonderful So wonderful, so the…
To Be You look at me and wonder, you look at me…
Vigil Our father thy will be done. I have denied this life…
Violets for Your Furs [Instrumental]…
When Lights Are Low Listen to the melody entrancing Blending in a soft and sweet…
Why Was I Born Spending these lonesome evenings With nothing to do But to l…
Why Was I Born? Spending these lonesome evenings With nothing to do But to…
You Are Too Beautiful You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true And I…
You are too beautifull You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true And I…
You Go to My Head You go to my head And you linger like a haunting…
You Leave Me Breathless If our love was a fairy tale I would charge in…
You're A Weaver Of Dreams You're a weaver of dreams You and your strange fascination …
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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