John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina in 1926. He grew up in High Point where his father, a tailor and part-time musician, introduced him to music. In 1938 tragedy struck when his father, grandfather, grandmother, and aunt died within months. Coltrane played clarinet and alto horn in high school before switching to saxophone, influenced by Lester Young and Johnny Hodges. After graduating in June 1943, he moved to Philadelphia with his mother. He studied at Ornstein School of Music and Granoff Studios. Coltrane served in the Navy from 1945 to 1946, playing alto saxophone with a Hawaii-based band. He switched to tenor saxophone in 1947.

Coltrane worked professionally with Eddie Vinson, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His first recorded solo appeared on Gillespie’s “We Love to Boogie” in 1951. Miles Davis hired him for the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1957. Heroin addiction led Davis to fire him in 1957. Coltrane locked himself in a room for cold turkey withdrawal and emerged with renewed dedication and spiritual awakening. His liner notes for “A Love Supreme” credit this 1957 experience as leading “to a richer, fuller, more productive life.” He worked with Thelonious Monk through summer 1957. Coltrane’s debut solo album “Coltrane” came in October 1957, followed by his Blue Note session “Blue Train” in 1958.

“Giant Steps” (1959) established his technical virtuosity through complex chord progressions and rapid arpeggios called “sheets of sound.” Coltrane formed his Classic Quartet in 1960 with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. “My Favorite Things” (1961) incorporated soprano saxophone and modal jazz elements. The quartet produced landmark recordings including “Olé Coltrane” (1961), collaborations with Duke Ellington (1963) and Johnny Hartman (1963), and “Live at Birdland” (1964). “A Love Supreme,” recorded December 9, 1964 at Van Gelder Studio as a four-part suite, represented his spiritual gratitude following religious awakening. It became his bestselling album with more than 500,000 copies sold by 1970.

Coltrane married pianist Alice McLeod in 1965. They had three children: John Jr., saxophonist Ravi, and Oran. His free jazz exploration included “Ascension” and “Meditations” (both 1965) with large ensembles. After McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones departed, Alice Coltrane joined on piano alongside Pharoah Sanders on saxophone and Rashied Ali on drums. Coltrane’s final recordings included “Interstellar Space” (1967) duets with Ali and “Expression,” completed days before his death. He died from liver cancer on July 17, 1967 at age 40. The African Orthodox Church canonized him posthumously. Coltrane received a special Pulitzer Prize. The Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco uses “A Love Supreme” as sacred text.