Sept. 23: Jazz legend John Coltrane was born on this date in 1926...

 

... he died on July 17, 1967 at the age of 40.

Jazz saxophonist and composer John William Coltrane, who was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, specialized in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, and helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz. Known by the nickname "Trane," one of his most acclaimed recordings, "Giant Steps" features harmonic structures more complex than were used by most musicians of the time.

 

He was prolific, organizing at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. As his career progressed, his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension.

He influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history. He received many awards, among them a posthumous Special Citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2007 for his "masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz."

In 1965, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1972, A Love Supreme was certified gold by the RIAA for selling over half a million copies in Japan. This album, as well as My Favorite Things, was certified gold in the United States in 2001.


In 1982 Coltrane was awarded a posthumous Grammy for "Best Jazz Solo Performance" on the album Bye Bye Blackbird, and in 1997, was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

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