John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was one of the players at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension, as exemplified on his most acclaimed albums A Love Supreme (1965) and Ascension (1966). He remains the most influential saxophonist in music history and has received numerous posthumous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and was canonized by the African Orthodox Church. His second wife was pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane. The couple had three children: John Jr. (1964–1982), a bassist; Ravi, a saxophonist; and Oran, a saxophonist, guitarist, drummer and singer.
Modal jazz is jazz that makes use of musical modes often modulating among them to accompany the chords instead of relying on one tonal center used across the piece. Although precedents exist, modal jazz was crystallized as a theory by composer George Russell in his 1953 book Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization.
Impressions is an album of live and studio recordings by jazz musician John Coltrane, released by Impulse! Records in July 1963.
Live At The Village Vanguard Again! is a live jazz album by saxophonist John Coltrane. Recorded in May 1966 during a live performance at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York City, the album features Coltrane playing in the free jazz style that characterized his final years. The lineup features Coltrane's quintet, with Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums, supplemented by Emanuel Rahim on percussion.
Live in Japan is a four-disc box set by American saxophonist John Coltrane and his last group, a quintet featuring Coltrane, his wife/pianist Alice, saxophonist/bass clarinetist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Rashied Ali. The 4-CD set compiles all the music issued as three albums in the seventies by Impulse!; Concert In Japan, Coltrane In Japan and Second Night In Tokyo (1977, Japan 3-LP. The first CD issues were by Impulse! Japan as two 2-CD sets: Live In Japan Vol. 1 and Live In Japan Vol. 2. The US 4-CD edition includes both of these volumes, with identical mastering from the original mono tapes. The side six interview from "Second Night In Tokyo" has never been reissued on any CD edition.
Africa/Brass is the eighth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on September 1, 1961 on Impulse! Records. The sixth release for the fledgling label and Coltrane's first for Impulse!, it features Coltrane's working quartet augmented by a larger ensemble to bring the total number of participating musicians to 21. Its big band sound, with the unusual instrumentation of French horns and euphonium, presented music very different from anything that had been associated with Coltrane to date. While critics originally gave it poor ratings, more recent jazz commentators have described it as "amazing" and as a "key work in understanding the path that John Coltrane's music took in its final phases."
Expression is an album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, recorded in early 1967 and released in late September of that year, around Coltrane's birthday, and after Coltrane's unexpected death. This was the first posthumous release of a Coltrane recording.
Lush Life is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in early 1961 on Prestige Records. It was assembled from previously unissued tracks from three recording sessions at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1957 and 1958. As Coltrane's profile increased during the 1960s, some years after the end of his Prestige contract, the label used unissued recordings to create new albums without Coltrane's input or approval.
The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings is a 1995 box set by jazz musician John Coltrane. It features all of the recordings Coltrane made for Atlantic Records, spanning January 15, 1959, to May 25, 1961.
Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in February 1962 on Impulse Records. It is the first album to feature the members of the classic quartet of Coltrane with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, as well as the first Coltrane live album to be issued. In contrast to his previous album for Impulse!, this one generated much turmoil among both critics and audience alike with its challenging music.
The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings is a box set by jazz musician John Coltrane, issued posthumously in 1997 by Impulse! Records, catalogue IMPD4-232. It collects all existing recordings from performances by the John Coltrane Quintet at the Village Vanguard in early November, 1961. Five selections had been issued during Coltrane's lifetime on the albums Live! at the Village Vanguard and Impressions. Additional tracks had been issued posthumously on the albums The Other Village Vanguard Tapes, Trane's Modes and From the Original Master Tapes.
Afro Blue Impressions is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded live in 1963 and released on the Pablo label in 1977 as a double LP.
The European Tour is a posthumous album by jazz musician John Coltrane released in 1980 on the Pablo label. The tracks were recorded on October 22, 1963 at the Koncerthuset in Stockholm, Sweden during a two-week European tour which was produced by Norman Granz, and which included concerts in Oslo, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Milan, Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt/Main, Paris, Berlin, Munich, and Stuttgart. Additional tracks from the Stockholm and Berlin concerts appear on Afro Blue Impressions. Tracks from Stockholm, Berlin, Paris, and Stuttgart are featured on the 2001 Pablo compilation Live Trane: The European Tours.
Newport '63 is a live album by jazz musician John Coltrane recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival, with one additional track recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961.
Living Space is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane. Released posthumously by Impulse! Records on March 10, 1998, it features pieces recorded in 1965. Almost all of them had been previously issued on the Kulu Sé Mama CD reissue and on The Mastery of John Coltrane, Vol. 1: Feelin' Good. The only previously unissued track is "Last Blues".
Selflessness Featuring My Favorite Things is a posthumous album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1969. The album juxtaposes two tracks recorded live at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival with a single track ("Selflessness") recorded in a studio in Los Angeles in 1965.
The Mastery of John Coltrane, Vol. I: Feelin' Good is a compilation album by American saxophonist John Coltrane, the first of a series of four compilations released on Impulse! between 1978 and 1979, all sharing the same cover artwork designed by Stuart Kusher, Richard Germinaro and Vigon Nahas Vigon. It features pieces recorded in 1965, seven in studio and one live. All the tracks were previously unissued in these mixes at the time of release. At present, the availability of said tracks is as follows:
Offering: Live at Temple University is a live album by John Coltrane recorded in 1966 and released posthumously by Resonance Records on September 23, 2014, Coltrane's 88th birthday. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes and was well-received by critics. Proceeds from the album benefit the John Coltrane Home.
Dear Old Stockholm is a compilation album by jazz musician John Coltrane released by GRP and Impulse! in 1993. The music, which was recorded on April 29, 1963 and May 26, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, features Coltrane's quartet with Roy Haynes substituting for Elvin Jones on drums.
Live Trane: The European Tours is a 7–CD compilation album by American saxophonist John Coltrane containing music recorded live during 1961, 1962, and 1963 European tours, all of which took place under the auspices of Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic programs. The album, which was released in 2001 by Pablo Records, features Coltrane on tenor and soprano saxophones along with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassists Jimmy Garrison and Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones. In addition, Eric Dolphy is heard on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute on a number of tracks.
