Coltrane. Can we talk?

You said a mouth full. Quite a critique of one of the great jazz masters. You must be an expert yourself. Can you please expand upon and explain some of your comments, in terms I might understand? What was so advanced about Coltrane's "harmonic conception"....What is a "3 & 4 tonic system", and why is it taking so many players so long to "catch up" to Coltrane's mastery of it?.....What is it to "move between equidistant tonal centers".....What, exactly, do you feel is lacking in Coltrane's playing and mastery of the instrument?...Please cite musical examples whenever possible......I'm gathering from your commentary that you are musician of some sort. That's wonderful. I can appreciate the fact that Coltrane is not your cup of tea. But I find it funny that you feel you are in a position to critique him, especially when many of the most respected musicians in jazz (Davis, Dolphy, Coleman, etc...)consider (or considered) Coltrane's music to be the high point of modern improvised music. BTW, George Russell (Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization) is probably more responsible for expanding the harmonic and melodic possibilities of modern jazz than anyone, and he actually feels that jazz just about died when Coltrane did. But I guess your studies have given you more insight (into Coltrane) than any of these other musicians might have been privy to, especially the ones who actually knew and worked with him. You must be pretty good. Please send me some MP3's of your playing, or e-mail me some of your compositions. I'd love to get a glimpse into the future of jazz. Thanks. Robert.

Hi Jay. Everything you state makes sense. It turns out that we have more in common than at first one might have expected. I'm so glad to see that there are other musicians surfing this site. What do you play? I am a guitarist. Right now I am working on my DMA at City University of New York; I study compositon with Edgar Granna and I am currently studying guitar with Steve Khan, although in the past I have studied with Charlie Banacos, John Scofield, and George Russell too. But my bigest influence as a musician has been from a little known composer named Roy Nitzberg; he really helped take the intelectual "blah, blah, blah" out of my thinking, and my playing. BTW, while I REALLY love 'Trane (big surprise) he is not my current favorite; that honor goes to (pianist) Bill Evans. Keep the faith. And thanks again Kublakhan for putting the focus where it belongs; on the music. Regards, Robert.