John Coltrane

John Coltrane's Career

• John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
• Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and was later at the forefront of free jazz.

John Coltrane's career continued

• He organized at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums such as trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.

John Coltrane's life

• John Coltrane was born September 23, 1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina.
• During the late 1940s and 1950s, he played in nightclubs and on recordings such as, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges.

John Coltrane's Early Life

• John Coltrane's father, John R. Coltrane, kept his family fed as a tailor, but also had a strong passion for music as well.
• John Coltrane found love for music through his fathers love of music.

John Coltrane's Struggle

• Life took a tragic turn in 1939 when Coltrane's father, grandparents and uncle died, leaving the household to be run by his mother, Alice, who found work as a domestic servant.
• Financial struggles defined this period for Coltrane, and eventually his mother and few other family members moved to New Jersey in the hopes of finding a better paycheck.

John Coltrane's Music Career

• He joined a group led by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, with whom Coltrane played tenor sax. Later he hooked up with Jimmy Heath's band, where the young musician began to fully explore his experimental side.
• Then in the fall of 1949 Coltrane signed on with a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie, remaining with the group for the next year and a half.

His Fall Down

• As the 1950s took a shape, he also began to experiment with drugs, mainly heroin. His talent earned him jobs, but his addictions often ended them prematurely. In 1954, Duke Ellington brought him on to temporarily replace Johnny Hodges, but soon fired him because of his drug dependency.

The End