John Coltrane
Music 331
Jazz History and Analysis
July 3, 2012
J.B. Morford – Guest Lecturer
Early Days
• Born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet , NC
• Grew up in High Point, NC
• His aunt, two uncles, grandfather, and father all
died between Fall of 1938 and Spring of 1939.
• Began practicing clarinet obsessively.
• Moved to Philadelphia in June 1943
– heard Dizzy and Bird
– began performing professionally
• Joined US Navy on August 6, 1945
– Same day as the US bomb on Hiroshima
Coltrane Apprenticeships
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Dizzy Gillespie
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson
Earl Bostic
Johnny Hodges
Miles Davis
Thelonious Monk
A Quick Word on the Drug Thing
• Coltrane’s heroin use:
– Began after his time in the Navy
– Cost him many jobs
• He completely stopped using heroin in May of
1957
– Related to his “spiritual awakening”
– Reinvigorated his work ethic
• Some evidence of experimentation with LSD
Guided Listening – “So What”
• What instruments do you see/hear?
• Write down 2-3 words/phrases to describe
each of the two soloists’ styles.
• How are they similar/different?
Modal vs. Chord Progressions
• Modalism – improvisation over very few
chords (sometimes just one!)
• John Coltrane was deeply involved in both
approaches to improvisation.
• Developed ideas for both approaches in part
through working working from Nicolas
Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic
Patterns
“Giant Steps”
• Groundbreaking because of
– Harmonic motion
– Tempo
– Coltrane’s virtuosic playing
• Has become a “proving ground” piece for jazz
musicians.
• Origin of title is unclear
“Giant Steps”
Landmark Recordings as Leader
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Blue Train (1957)
Giant Steps (1959)
My Favorite Things (1960)
A Love Supreme (1964)
Ascension (1965)
Recording Output
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114 studio albums
29 live albums
6 compilation albums
8 EP’s
7 singles
7 music videos
***About 90% recorded between 1955 and 1967
Listening for Development
• “My Favorite Things”
– R & H version (1959 initial publication)
– Coltrane (Studio Version)
– Coltrane (Live Version)
MFT - Julie Andrews (1965)
Julie Andrews vs. John Coltrane (‘61)
• Lyrics
• Uses composers’
structure and content
– Common Chord
Progression
– 3/4 time
• (but feels like 1)
• No Lyrics
• Recontextualizes
melody
– “Eastern” or “Indian”
embellishments
– Use of Drone
– Waltz feel
• Retains original function • New function
– Modified from musical
theater
– Vehicle for extended
improvisation
MFT – Coltrane (Studio Version)
• Recorded in 1960
• Released in 1961
• List 4 ways that this interpretation differs from
Julie Andrews’.
Coltrane’s MFT 1961 vs. 1965
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Much longer solos
More dissonant relationship to pedal point
Increased density of texture
More active (and loud!) accompaniment
MFT – Coltrane (Live Version)
Listening for Development
• “Naima”
– 1959 (Giant Steps)
– 1965 (Live in Paris)
• In what ways are these two recordings
similar?
• In what ways are they different?
• Which do you prefer, and why?
Classic Quartet (1962-1965)
• McCoy Tyner (piano)
• Jimmy Garrison (bass)
• Elvin Jones (drums)
A Love Supreme
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Recorded in 1964 and released in 1965
Among the top selling jazz albums in history
First among a number of extended works
4-part Suite
– Acknowledgement
– Resolution
– Pursuance
– Psalm
Things to listen for in
“Acknowledgement”
the first 2 minutes:
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Gong!
Tenor Sax intro
Four-note motive in the bass
Drum set ostinato with “Latin” flavor
Quartal harmonies in piano
Three-note motive in tenor sax
Ascending to a brief climax
Things to listen for in
“Acknowledgement”
from 2 min to 5 min
• Slightly different 3-note motive in tenor sax
– Doubled to create pentatonic
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Modulation of new motive
Away from and back to original tonal center
Slight release in tension
Build again to altissimo (screechy) register
Release of tension again
Things to listen for in
“Acknowledgement”
from 5 min to end
Tenor sax plays the motive from the bass
Bass motive is modulated
Tension subsides
“A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme, A Love
Supreme, A Love Supreme…”
• Piano drops out
• Drums drop out
• Bass ends on a strummed chord
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Experimental Works - 1965
• Ascension
– Collective improvisation built around single theme
– Sequential soloing
– Coltrane acting as leader to young musicians
• Om
– Explicit reference to “Eastern” religious thought
“New Thing” Leader
• “I don’t know the criteria capable of
differentiating a white musician from a black
musician, and besides, I don’t believe that it
exists.…It is entirely a problem of
understanding and has nothing to do with
questions of skin color.”
– John Coltrane (1966)
Second Quartet (1965-1967)
• Alice Coltrane (piano)
• Jimmy Garrison (bass)
• Rashied Ali (drums)
Final Recordings
• Often categorized as “free jazz” because
– Not pulsive
– Harmonic progressions (if they occur) are hard to
predict
– Moments of extreme dissonance, density, and
• Not free jazz to me, because
– Repeated use of small-scale structures
– Seed material exhaustively developed
– Carefully structured in small and large scales
Final Thoughts
• “I think music is an instrument….It can create
the initial thought patterns that can change
the thinking of the people.”
– John Coltrane (1966)