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Coltrane Story of a sound 8361
Coltrane Story of a sound 8361
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What was the essence of John Coltrane’s achievement that makes him so prized forty years after his death? What was it about his improvising, his bands, his compositions, his place within his era of jazz that left so many musicians and listeners so powerfully drawn to him? What would a John Coltrane look like now—or are we looking for the wrong signs? The acclaimed jazz writer Ben Ratliff addresses these questions in Coltrane. First Ratliff tells the story of Coltrane’s development, from his first recordings as a no-name navy bandsman to his last recordings as a near-saint, paying special attention to the last ten years of his life, which contained a remarkable series of breakthroughs in a nearly religious search for deeper expression. In the book’s second half, Ratliff traces another history: that of Coltrane’s influence and legacy. This story begins in the mid-’50s and considers the reactions of musicians, critics, and others who paid attention, asking: Why does Coltrane signify so heavily in the basic identity of jazz?Placing jazz among other art forms and American social history, and placing Coltrane not just among jazz musicians but among the greatest American artists, Ratliff tries to look for the sources of power in Coltrane’s music—not just in matters of technique, composition, and musical concepts, but in the deeper frequencies of Coltrane’s sound.
Reviews:
‘Finally a jazz book that deals with the music instead of the personal failings of the artist. Ben Ratliff is part of a lineage that includes Ira Gitler, Leonard Feather and Joel Selvin, writers who used to write opinionated and incisive liner notes in small print on the back of LP’s. In Coltrane, he offers a convincing analysis of why Coltrane was a hero in his own time and, in Part Two of the book, why he continues to cast such a large shadow over jazz after his passing passing.
‘Finally a jazz book that deals with the music instead of the personal failings of the artist. Ben Ratliff is part of a lineage that includes Ira Gitler, Leonard Feather and Joel Selvin, writers who used to write opinionated and incisive liner notes in small print on the back of LP’s. In Coltrane, he offers a convincing analysis of why Coltrane was a hero in his own time and, in Part Two of the book, why he continues to cast such a large shadow over jazz after his passing passing.
Jazz arouses passions. There have been rancorous schisms in jazz, gunfights over chord changes (as memorably recounted in Ken Burns’ series). There were the Moldy Fig Wars that raged in the ’40’s over trad jazz vs. BeBop. This book goes into the divide between Free Jazz and ‘Playing the Changes’ that split listeners as well as players for about 25 years from roughly 1967-1992. Fascinatingly, John Coltrane appears on both sides. He was arguably the most learned player out there, his arpeggios and scales were so well understood and incorporated that he played them with blazing speed and precision. Then, like Picasso moving from realism to his own thang, Coltrane let go of the side of the river and floated free in an Alan Watts-like Buddhist act of faith.
The research done by Ratliff pays off as he navigates these waters. What emerges is the idea Ratliff expresses in his title, The Story of a Sound. Coltrane was always about the sound of the band and on a deeper level, Sound with a capital S as opposed to demonstrations of music theory.
I feel that John Coltrane was playing music that was deeply personal and some of the primal scream aspects of his later music can be understood, and treasured, when seen as a human bellow of truth. He was working some shit out, out loud, Like Walt Whitman pointed us toward. And it is beautiful!‘ – Lemar (Goodreads)
Author: Ben Ratliff
Condition: Hardback wrapped in plastic. Ex-library book – has stickers. Fabulous condition.
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