JOHN COLTRANE (A giant step for jazz kind) Jazz History #56

some decades ago I presented a clinic on Jazz to a group of high school students with about 2 minutes left on the clock I said there was time for one more question a student raised his hand and said I've been listening to John col train but I don't think I understand everything he plays and I'm wondering if you can explain it well I laughed and I said I don't think anyone is going to explain John col train in 2 minutes and if I had two years I still couldn't do it because col train existed on a level that is beyond my or frankly most musicians comprehension to be fair col train struggled somewhat to explain himself although not for lack of trying in dozens of interviews for most of his relatively short professional life he was driven to spend every waking minute and probably some sleeping ones on a quest to make his music a means to a higher end John colrain was born in 1926 in Hamlet North Carolina both his grandfathers were ministers so religion was a part of his upbringing for sure when his father and his grandparents died within a short time of each other he and his mother moved to Philadelphia to live with an aunt she recalls him sitting at the table practicing saying we just learned to move around him she also attributed his later success somewhat tongue and cheek to having been raised by women col Train played clarinet and alto horn as a child and he took up the alto Sachs in high school to avoid being drafted into the army during World War II colr enlisted in the Navy on August 6th 1945 that was the same day that the US dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima which might have caused a new serviceman to question his decision the nuclear attack affected ly ended the war which created an opportunity for train to play with the band at his Navy base in Hawaii in this clip from 1946 we hear him playing Cherokee on alto saxs the influence of Charlie Parker is evident both in the vocabulary and the choice of tune which bird had played on his debut record a year before in 1960 col train said the first time I heard Bird play it hit me right between the eyes he did all the things I would like to do and more he could do things melodiously so that anybody could hear that's what I haven't read [Music] [Music] reached [Music] [Music] after his discharge from the Navy train moved back to Philadelphia where there was a strong local Jazz scene including the heath Brothers Jimmy Percy and toy in Jimmy's telling col train practiced nearly continuously some something for which he was famous throughout his life and and we were in a hotel in uh St Francisco and train was practicing in a hotel of course in his room and somebody calls on hey tell that guy stop all that noise with that M that saxophone up there train took the horn out of his mouth and cck his fingering for hour I'm watching Willie Ma I'm watching sports I asked TR one time I said man willly may hit three home runs today man he say who's Willie ma Jim he wasn't into sports man he let that go he was into a mission of practicing and music every day all day in 1955 col train got the call from Miles Davis to join what became known as miles's first great Quint t as miles was a rising star at that point that gig provided train with a substantial amount of exposure and the freedom to develop his own style so it was a big blow and a wake-up call when miles had to fire train in 1957 as he had become unreliable due to heroin and alcohol abuse as miles had done a few years earlier train went home to kick his drug habit in the lineer notes for a Love Supreme years later train credited a religious Epiphany with giving him the strength to do it and imbuing his life with a sense of purpose he wrote I experienced by the grace of God A Spiritual Awakening which was to lead me to a more productive life in gratitude I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music tra returned to New York to record his debut album in mid 1957 it's hard to Fathom that tra's entire career as a leader took place in a 10-year period before his untimely death in 1967 also in 1957 tra worked as a sidan with tonius monk only a few recordings were known to exist of that group so it was a major Discovery in 2005 when a tape was found in the Library of Congress almost 50 years later of a Carnegie Hall concert in 1957 it was described by one critic as the musical equivalent of finding another Mount Everest the tape was remastered and released by producer Michael kusuna and Monk's son TS [Music] for [Music] oh [Music] the [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] he [Music] h [Music] oh [Music] h [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] in 1958 train rejoined miles for the album Milestones the same year he recorded his own albums blue train and Soul Train which he mentioned as his personal favorites and a lot of people would agree with that in the liner notes for Soul Train Ira gitler coined the term sheets of sound to describe col Train's voluminous outpouring of notes in solos that could sometimes go on for 15 or 20 minutes when miles asked him to play shorter solos train said I don't know how to stop miles replied try taking the horn out of your mouth in interviews train acknowledged that he hadn't yet found the essence of what he was trying to say which led him to essentially play Everything In Search of it he said it does me a lot of good to play until I don't feel like playing anymore but it has made me think that if I'm going to take an hour to say something that I can say in 10 minutes maybe I'd better say it in 10 minutes I found out that I don't say that much more in 1959 train recorded his seminal album Giant Steps at almost exactly the same time that he was recording kind of blue with Miles these two albums are a big part of the reason why 1959 is considered to be such a Monumental year in jazz while Giant Steps is noted mostly for the harmonic progression in the title tune and others that's become known as The Cult train Matrix the album also contains the ballad Naima which was the middle name of Train's first wife he described it as his favorite composition the harmonic form of Giant Steps the cult train Matrix is based on rapid modulations of a major third it was a challenge for pianist Tommy Flanigan who had to contend with it on the original record as it has been for aspirational jazz musicians ever [Music] since [Music] n [Music] e [Music] e [Music] e [Music] n

Channel: Chase Sanborn

Views: 4,321

Keywords: jazz saxophone players, tenor saxophone players, john coltrane, hard bop, jazz history, jazz history course, jazz history documentary, jazz history lecture, jazz history lessons, jazz history podcast, jazz history tutorial, the history of jazz, post bop, post bop styles, 1950s jazz, jazz in the 1950s, giant steps, trane, soultrane, blue train

Id: 00L8v7EcgyY

Length: 17min 17sec (1037 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 22 2023