John Coltrane · American jazz saxophonist (1926–1967) · 1926–1967
Appears in 8 videos · 11 passages, 3 of them in depth.
What Dominique Pagani says
Dominique Pagani places Coltrane in the history of modern jazz. He links him to the Miles Davis quintet, where Davis discovered him, and regards him as the greatest soloist after Parker1. He places him in the succession of styles: after Miles Davis's cool, Coltrane brings in a new sound2, ahead of Dolphy, who comes slightly later. He compares Coltrane's tenor tone, which is sharp, with those of Getz and Rollins: it is the same instrument, but not the same sound world3. He dwells mainly on My Favorite Things, which opens Coltrane's modal period. In it he traces the move from rhythm and blues to the tonal jazz of the standards, then to a modal jazz built on two chords, with a hypnotic effect4. This modal music keeps a memory of the tonal through a mediant modulation5. He also notes that this modal sound is taken to be unheard-of when it in fact goes back to the oldest music6, and he points out Coltrane's solo on So What.
Summary produced automatically from 11 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.
Who is this?
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raised in North Carolina, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia after high school, where he immersed himself in the local jazz scene, studied music, and served in the Navy toward the end of World War II before making his professional debut in 1945. […]