Help me understand John Coltrane .... seriously.
Yes, Equinox is nice. I tried recalling that songs the other day to suggest, but kept drawing a blank trying to remember it. His collaboration with Johnny Hartman is my least favorite Coltrane album, so you're excused from listening to it Erik..You still haven't mentioned what if any jazz you do like or prefer. If you do enjoy the Eagles, you might as well shoot your turntable, and get it over with. Love, Mike |
I"m totally with the people who say start with early Coltrane. I say start with Kind of Blue (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and more), which is *the* most famous jazz album of all time for good reason. If you've not heard it before, you're losing out. The John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman is a good second album. Then move onto Blue Train and then Giant Steps after that. You should be totally hooked on Coltrane by then. Coltrane is sublime, just pure sublime. There is a huge difference between early Coltrane and later Coltrane. Early Coltrane is pretty easy to grasp. Later Coltrane goes way outside and is not everyone's cup of tea, including me. I disagree with those who say start with A Love Supreme, it's too outside for most newbie jazz listeners. Later Coltrane IS another language and it takes some advanced jazz language skills to grasp it. If you develop a taste for Cannonball Adderley after listening to Kind of Blue, I recommend the Cannonball album, Somethin' Else. |
To keep it simple, Coltrane on Atlantic is easier on the ears than the later material on ABC/Dunhill/MCA. In music theory classes way back when, the tune Spiral off of Giant Steps was offered an an example of defining a physical shape/attribute with sound. If you like that, the rest of the album should interest you, followed by the My Favorite Things album. |
One must appreciate the history of half century old jazz to get these artists. From the same time period, I simply don't get doo-wop, country and western, old rock and roll, or any smooth jazz that arose from this AM car radio era. My boy did learn to like Coltrane and Miles, despite his phishheadenness, but don't wory about it, especially on streaming devices. The selection that gets streamed is based on algorhythyms that pander to what is listened to by the most idiots.Additionally, my appreciation of these old jazz artists is that they make great, low level, party background music, if you like old Broadway show tunes, plus of course their importance in the history of jazz for white people. |
Coltrane is very challenging, and though I have always liked him - especially his 1961 Village Vanguard performances - I never understood him. This Vox Explainer actually does a terrific job of breaking down what Coltrane is doing and why: https://youtu.be/62tIvfP9A2w |
