RIP, John Coltrane (1926-1967)

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane died from liver cancer on July 17, 1967, in Huntington, New York. He was just 40 years old. His funeral was held at St. Peters Lutheran Church in New York City, and he was buried at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y.

Len Lyons says that Coltrane "challenged himself artistically to a greater extent than any saxophonist in jazz's history," and critic William Ruhlmann calls him "among the most important, and most controversial, figures in jazz." Coltrane played bebop and hard bop early in his career, then helped pioneer modal jazz and later free jazz.

Coltrane plays "Giant Steps" (with animated sheet music) here, a good example of what critic Ira Gitler referred to as the "sheets of sound" that Coltrane produced.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends four albums by Coltrane, all of which are available in CD:

• Giant Steps (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
• My Favorite Things (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
• Live at the Village Vanguard (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
• A Love Supreme (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

Robert
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