Born this day celebrating what would have been his 90th birthday was John Coltrane. As far as “Idols” in jazz music he was my first. I remember one day sitting outside on my friends “stoop” listening to a jazz radio station when I when i first heard the intro to the ballad “My One and Only Love” I knew nothing of chord changes, scales or any theory at that time, but there was something about how the song was put together. The Interplay between the Coltrane and Johnny Hartman was magic. I love listening to this song then and every time since then it just seemed perfect. Maybe that’s why that album is the only one he did with a singer. He got it right that first time and knew there was nothing to add or improve upon. That was one of the first jazz album’s I bought and one of the first five Cd’s I bought years later also. I love listening to his solo’s especially on the song “Impressions.” When people here him solo, they say he’s chasing the “Trane” myself I always thought the feeling he was chasing was like trying to catch smoke, that emotion that always seemed to slip thru his fingers. John Coltrane was the reason why when my middle school asked me to learn the Tenor Saxophone I agreed. Even though I don’t play Saxophone now, the sound of his tenor reminds me of those days in school. John Coltrane's sound has inspired countless of up and coming saxophonist to chase the trane.
In Dix Hills, Long Island the Friends of the Coltrane Home Working Committee is an organization dedicated to restoring John Coltrane's home that he lived in when he wrote his masterpiece "A Love Supreme"
The Coltrane Home will be a learning and research center that provides an interactive archive of the Coltrane's and jazz and other music within a restoration of the Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, Long Island, NY. It will provide programs, training and outreach within the community and region to further the appreciation of the Coltrane’s legacy and social importance of his music.
I want to be a force for real good, In other words. I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good. J.Coltrane