John Coltrane: The Translation of Energy into Sound

If each great musician presents us a thesis, an overarching idea that encompasses all of their work, the thesis behind John Coltrane, what he offers to those of us who listen, his great contribution to the world, is the transfer and translation of energy into sound.

Along with Miles Davis's various groups during the 1950s and 60s, the John Coltrane Quartet and its classic period from 1962-1965 is probably the most influential Jazz group of all time and, in a way, you could say that all Jazz since then has flowed from the influence of the groups formed by Miles and Coltrane. Like all of the Jazz from the Glory Years (the bop and hard bop), Trane's work stems from his contact with Charlie "Bird" Parker. As Trane said, "the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes."

Coltrane's canonical 1957 recording with Blue Note, Blue Train, could be the swingingest album of all time and should be in anybody's record collection, even non-Jazz fans. This period between 1957-1960 is incredibly busy and he plays on Miles Davis's album Kind of Blue (1959), which also should be in the record collection of any self-respecting music appreciator. Here we get some more impressionistic playing on a modal jazz based more on modes than chord changes. And in evidence is what jazz critics have called Coltrane's "sheets of sound" which feature him playing hundreds, almost thousands of notes per minute, streaming by like sheets of sound.

With Cannonball, Miles and Bill Evans recording Kind of Blue (1959)

The most prominent example of the sheets of sound is on Coltrane's album Giant Steps (1960). "Giant Steps" contains probably the most complex and difficult chord progressions of any Jazz composition and features what has become known as "Coltrane changes," which employ chromatic third relations and multi-tonic changes and use substitute chords over common jazz chord progressions. What we get with the sheets of sound is the translation of a mad energy into sound. The original recording from Atlantic records is hilarious because Trane just wails and takes us to another dimension with his sheets of sound and then we get to Tommy Flanagan's turn to solo on the piano and he just flails. He can't keep up with the blistering pace that Trane has set and he just about gives up midway through his chorus.

But to say that Trane stopped there would be selling us short, as he continually evolved these complex changes throughout his career and takes them out further and further until his death in 1967. For me, Coltrane really peaks in 1964 with albums like A Love Supreme, a spiritual about a love supreme for God and my personal favorite Crescent. 

Coltrane's work with the Classic Quartet (1962-65), with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, really is the perfect blend of experimentation, of free jazz and anti-jazz but with a melodic and harmonic form that still gives the group a solid foundation. A Love Supreme is a culmination of his work and is an ode to faith and love for God. This spirituality would continue to influence his playing. The fourth movement of A Love Supreme is "Psalm" and is based on a poem Coltrane wrote to God, with exactly one note for each syllable of the poem, with the phrasing based on the actual words. The story I've heard, which I'm not sure if it's true, is that in 1957 Coltrane quit heroin by locking himself in a room for 3 weeks and just playing his horn. And this refuge  gave him an epiphany. And the way I see it an epiphany that lasted for 10 years until his death--a lucid clarity and sharpness that built on his formidable skills as a musician prior to quitting his addiction. He was already one of the best sax players of all time and then he takes it to a whole new level with the work that just builds and builds until his death. Coltrane found God and his music is a translation of that spiritual energy into sound.

Coltrane was later canonized by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane and I remember when I lived in San Francisco going to the St. John Coltrane Church and people would translate God's energy into sound and just blow on instruments. The translation of energy into sound in its purest form. Music is as close to the spiritual as I can get. Coltrane found God. And when you listen carefully, you can find God, too.

Like a lot of Jazz, Coltrane takes standards, reinterprets them in a way that is original and more complex than the original, in such a way that you get a richer appreciation for the composer. This is the case for how Coltrane interprets Rogers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. "My Favorite Things" is featured on a number of Coltrane albums and every time Coltrane takes it deeper and deeper, including an 18-minute version on Newport '63. The trance-like vamp Indian raga achieved by the quartet on the original recording is pulsating, haunting and is a perfect picture of a quartet in total lock-step--Jimmy Garrison propelling the group with a simple but smooth bass line, Elvin Jones quietly but energetically spurring the group on with quiet fills, and McCoy Tyner in the background, never taking over but directing the improvisation of Coltrane with a pulsating vamp that carries the group forward. The version on Live At The Village Vanguard Again! (1966), with wife Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, goes into the ridiculous, hyper-kinetic explosive stuff that borders on the insane and clocks in at 26 minutes with a long intro.

When we think of Coltrane, we usually remember his blistering sheets of sound. But one of his great albums is simply titled Ballads (1963), which features standards like "Too Young to Go Steady," "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Nancy (With the Laughing Face." Coltrane's energy shines through but in softer palettes and at much slower speeds. Coltrane achieved such a wonderful sound--too hard for some, but his playing on other ballads like "Naima" is even deeper, more energetic than the more up tempo tunes associated with him.

With the spiritual Eastern tinge that Coltrane found in the early sixties, McCoy Tyner quietly but elegantly keeps the spirit of John Coltrane's music alive with albums like The Real McCoy (1967), Fly with the Wind (1976) and Extensions (1970), all of which are five-star albums. Extensions features Alice Coltrane on harp and Fly with the Wind puts together unusual instrumentation with oboe and strings and some of the most smoking drumming by Billy Cobham. Coltrane's spirit lives on. His energy continues pulsing in smart, spiritual music that inspires and takes us further.

Coltrane, along with Miles and Duke Ellington, was one of our greatest American interpreters of music, and what we can do now is celebrate him by playing his music over and over again.