Coltrane, John, 1926-67, American jazz musician, b. Hamlet, N.C. He began playing tenor saxophone as an adolescent. Coltrane worked with numerous big bands before emerging in the mid-1950s as a major stylist while playing as a sideman with Miles Davis. Originally influenced by Lester Young, Coltrane displayed in his playing a dazzling technical brilliance combined with ardent emotion and eventually a kind of mysticism. His style, which was at once sonorous and spare, was influenced by the rhythms and tonal structure of African and Asian music. Coltrane made a number of influential recordings, among them the modal-jazz classics My Favorite Things (1961) and A Love Supreme (1964), and the later exemplars of free jazz, Ascension and Interstellar Space, his final album. From the late 1950s until his death he was considered the outstanding tenor and soprano saxophonist of the jazz avant-garde, and his music continues to be a strong source of inspiration to jazz and pop musicians.

(born Sept. 23, 1926, Hamlet, N.C., U.S.—died July 17, 1967, Huntington, N.Y.) U.S. saxophonist and composer. After growing up in Philadelphia, he gained early experience in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Johnny Hodges. Associations with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk in the 1950s established Coltrane's place in the vanguard of modern jazz, and his quartet of the early 1960s is one of the outstanding groups in jazz history. His style encompassed the modal jazz first explored with Davis, the complex chord structures of his own compositions, and ultimately the extremes of timbre, dynamics, and register associated with free jazz. Coltrane's total mastery of the tenor and soprano saxophones, the rich harmonic density of his compositions, and his clear projection of emotion enabled him to reconcile technical virtuosity with an often spiritual profundity.

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Coltrane's Sound is a jazz album by John Coltrane originally recorded in 1960, but released in June 1964 (according to Atlantic Records reissue liner notes). Because the tracks were put together and released four years after being recorded, the album was overshadowed by Coltrane's later, more experimental works that followed his so-called "Middle Period." Despite being underrated, Coltrane's Sound actually belongs to the same landmark series of recordings that produced the two more popular albums, My Favorite Things and Coltrane Plays the Blues. This collection thus stands on its own as a very significant and impressive album that features some of the best work by John Coltrane and his renowned quartet — McCoy Tyner (Piano), Elvin Jones (Drums) and Steve Davis (Bass) — on the Atlantic label.

Most of the tracks are original Coltrane compositions (some based on melodies reworked from other songs), except for "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "Body and Soul."

Track listing

1. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (Jerry Brainin) – 6:42
2. "Central Park West" (Coltrane) – 4:12
3. "Liberia" (Coltrane) – 6:49
4. "Body and Soul" (Johnny Green) – 5:35
5. "Equinox" (Coltrane) – 8:33
6. "Satellite" (Coltrane) – 5:49
7. "26-2" (Coltrane) – 6:12
8. "Body and Soul (alternate take)" – 5:57

References

External links

• - The All Music Guide on Coltrane's Sound;
• - The All About Jazz informative review of the album.