John Coltrane

He was born John William Coltrane, but he frequently went by Trane. His life was short; his career even shorter and wrought with difficulty.

John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. His father was a tailor, his grandfather was a preacher. When Trane was only 13 years old his father, uncle, and both grandparents died leaving Trane to be raised by his mother, an aunt, and a cousin. Looking for work, Trane's mother left for Philadelphia leaving Trane behind to finish high school. After high school graduation Trane moved north and was re-united with his family.

Trane had begun playing clarinet and e flat horn in a community band later changing to the alto saxophone. When he moved to Philadelphia Trane continued to play. Near the end of the war in 1945 Trane was drafted into the Navy. Stationed in Hawaii Trane did not see any combat action. It was here that Trane made his first recording with some fellow sailors. But the recording "Hot House" did not get released until it was included as a part of an anthology by Rhino in 1993. When Trane was discharged from the Navy, he returned to Philadelphia and continued to play with whatever band he could latch onto.

Coltrane played in the Joe Webb Band, the King Kolax Band, the Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson band, the Jimmy Heaths Band which became the Howard McGhee All Stars, and as a part of Dizzie Gilespie's band. At some point during this time Trane switched from alto saxophone to tenor saxophone. There are various rumours as to why Trane changed horns but the actual reason is not known.

While playing with Dizzie, Trane got his first chance to play a solo on "We Love to Boogie".

After leaving Dizzie Trane played with the Johnny Hodges Band before signing on with Miles Davis. Playing for Davis turned out to be Tran'es big break. A break that Trane nearly destroyed with his heroin addiction. Over the next few years Davis fired Coltrane on several occasions because of the heroin addiction. In the end Trane managed to kick the habit.

Davis signed a record deal that created numerous opportunities for Trane to play. In the fifties and sixties when artists recorded an album, the entire album could be done in a matter of hours. As a result a few marathon recording sessions could produce a number of albums. At first Coltrane was listed as a sideman; but as his popularity rose the record companies began to repackage the sessions with Coltrane's name on the album.

It was not until 1957

that Coltrane was offered an album deal of his own and was listed as the leader of a band on the album.

In 1964 John Coltrane married Alice Mcleod. The couple had two children, one of which Ravi is also a jazz musician. The couple had only a few years together because John Coltrane died from liver cancer at the age of 40 in 1967.

John Coltrane's success as a recording artist is still an ongoing effort. When he died Coltrane left numerous recordings behind. In fact, he had selected the songs for the next album only a week before he died. Over the years since his death record companies have packaged and repackaged Coltrane's music sometimes releasing the same material under a new title. It was one of these later releases that won John Coltrane his only Grammy Award. And in 2001 Coltrane had two albums with his material certified gold. John Coltrane was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980 and in 1992 Jon Coltrane received a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Grammy Award ceremonies.

John Coltrane's legacy is not the pieces he played but the way he played them. John Coltrane's brand of jazz wa labeled avant garde, what today may be termed progressive or fusion. Trane went his own way at times playing extensive improv solos that were considered genius by some and noise by others. The infpiration left by Coltrane was for later musicians to do it their own way and to experiment.