This weeks jazz artist of the week is the legendary saxophonist John Coltrane. Coltrane is without a doubt my favorite saxophone player of all time (closely followed by Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon). I own just about everything that Coltrane ever recorded and that is a whole lot of music. From Coltrane's early days as a sideman with Red Garland, to his days with the timeless Miles Davis group, and all the recordings of his own as a leader on Atlantic and Impulse. Many people find Coltrane's music a little too deep for their ears and can't get into it. I know some that refer to Coltrane's later recordings as "the crazy years" or "when Coltrane lost his mind'. To me, this is when John Coltrane just took the art of saxophone playing to another level and I agree that this music is not for everyone. These later recordings are serious, intense stuff that are not for the casual listener. Coltrane's influence over the tenor and soprano sax is still felt today and can be heard on many of today's sax players. Coltrane also reintroduced the soprano sax (after Sidney Bechet) to the public and this instruments popularity continues to grow.
Here's a video of Coltrane playing one of his big hits, My Favorite Things. Check it out and get hip!
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