sorry didn't mean to send it so many times...I sent it straight from NYTimes
so maybe there was a server error
-- Lynne d Johnson LynnedJohnson@earthlink.net http://www.LynnedJohnson.com"Rap music is a technologically sophisticated and complex urban sound." --Tricia Rose, Black Noise
> From: lynnedjohnson@earthlink.net > Reply-To: lynnedjohnson@earthlink.net > Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 12:36:11 -0700 (PDT) > To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu > Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Coltrane at 75: the Man and the Myths > > This article from NYTimes.com > has been sent to you by lynnedjohnson@earthlink.net. > > > > Coltrane at 75: the Man and the Myths > > September 23, 2001 > > By FRANCIS DAVIS > > > > > Music is a "pure" art; a note or chord or rhythmic pattern > has no literal meaning in the way that a poem, a passage of > prose, a song lyric, a representational or even an abstract > painting can. Yet what we hear in music — what we think we > hear, influenced by the composer's title or some other > piece of information we accept as a clue to his intentions > — gradually assumes its own reality. It is often said, for > example, that "Alabama," a prayerlike dirge written by the > saxophonist John Coltrane and recorded by him on Nov. 18, > 1963, was his saddened and outraged response to a church > bombing in Birmingham, Ala., two months earlier. The > bombing, which took the lives of four young girls, was a > turning point in the civil rights movement. Yet if this was > what Coltrane meant for the piece to be "about," he kept it > to himself in the recording studio, not saying a word about > the deaths of those children to the pianist McCoy Tyner or > the drummer Elvin Jones, both of whom were sidemen at the > session. As far as they remember, the piece didn't even > have a name yet. They remember being moved by the piece, > but they don't recall Coltrane saying anything at all about > the killings after handing out the sheet music. > > In my research for a Coltrane biography, the only person I > have talked to who claims to have been in the studio that > day and overheard Coltrane talk about the bombing in > reference to "Alabama" is Jarvis Tyner, the pianist's > brother, a longtime Communist who may have his own > political agenda. The liner notes for "Coltrane at > Birdland," the album on which "Alabama" was originally > released, were written by Amiri Baraka, a political > firebrand as well as a poet and playwright, and not even he > had anything to say about Birmingham in impressionistically > describing the piece. > > Yet in listening to "Alabama" now, especially given its use > over footage of the bombed church and the children's > funerals in Spike Lee's 1997 film "Four Little Girls," and > the documentary television series "Eyes on the Prize," we > might think the piece lets us hear the exact moment in the > struggle for civil rights when black forbearance gave in to > anger. > > Today is the 75th anniversary of Coltrane's birth, and his > influence on jazz and other forms of music shows no sign of > waning. Beginning with "Naima" and "Giant Steps," several > of his compositions have entered the standard repertory, > and no jazz musician today would be playing "My Favorite > Things," from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Sound of Music," > had Coltrane not established its surprising potential for > modal improvisation on a 1960 recording, transforming it > from a sugary waltz into a hypnotic raga. > > Probably the number most closely associated with him during > his lifetime (a New Orleans concert promoter once billed > him as "John `My Favorite Things' Coltrane"), this unlikely > vehicle is the reason that so many alto and tenor > saxophonists since the 1960's have doubled on soprano, and > the Eastern influence that briefly dominated Coltrane's > music in its aftermath has inspired countless musicians to > look to other cultures. The most emulated of Coltrane's > methods on tenor saxophone remains his "sheets of sound" — > critical shorthand for the rush and simultaneity of the > notes that regularly erupted from his horn in the late > 1950's, when he seemed bent on exploring the chords of > whatever tune he happened to be confronting from every > possible angle at once. > > But Coltrane's influence involves more than riffing on his > tunes and employing certain of his techniques. It has never > been limited to jazz — he is frequently sampled on rap > recordings; his echo has been discernible in pop since the > Byrds' "Eight Miles High" hit the charts in 1966; the early > minimalist composers admitted to being fascinated by his > use of rhythmic cycles and harmonic drones; the mystical > aura that surrounds his music was what Stevie Wonder and > the band Earth, Wind and Fire, among other soul acts, were > going for in the 1970's, when they began gazing at the > heavens or at their own navels. > > Lately, however, Coltrane's significance has begun to seem > as much symbolic as musical. Musicians far removed from him > stylistically and likely to define their own music in the > most secular terms have embraced him as a role model, or at > least have recognized the high seriousness they can claim > for themselves by dropping his name. He has come to stand > for a disciplined mind-set, a desire for spiritual ecstasy, > a vision of music as ritual and of performance as a holy > rite. Depending on what a listener wants from it, > Coltrane's music is a cry for black liberation, the > soundtrack of a spiritual quest, a backdrop for tripping, > or merely (merely!) the next evolutionary step for jazz > after bebop. > > After a period as an obscure journeyman with a heroin > habit, during which he toiled anonymously in Dizzy > Gillespie's big band, Earl Bostic's small group and several > Palookaville rhythm-and-blues outfits, Coltrane began to > attract notice when he joined Miles Davis toward the end of > 1955. He was a prominent figure in jazz until his death > from liver cancer in 1967, at the age of 40. In those 12 > years his music changed so regularly and so quickly that he > became synonymous with the will to change. He passed > through at least four overlapping stages: his > apprenticeship with Davis and Thelonious Monk, his > sheets-of- sound period, modalism, and an ambiguous role as > both high priest and acolyte in the jazz avant-garde of the > mid-1960's. > > In an overview of Coltrane's career published soon after > his death, the critic Martin Williams described him as "a > man in the middle," a soloist suspended between hard bop > and free form. But Coltrane was a man in the middle in > another way: though he was essentially apolitical (or > perhaps reluctant to voice his political convictions) and > was a practicing member of no specific religion at his > death (despite the many Christian and Islamic references in > his composition titles and a hallucination of God that > sounds very much like a typical born-again experience while > going cold turkey in 1957), he was nevertheless perceived > to be in the thick of things in the 1960's, when politics > and religion began to merge — the beginning of a continuing > chapter in American life. > > At St. John's in San Francisco — a church named for > Coltrane, where his music is part of the liturgy and where > he was once worshiped as a deity, before being demoted to > saint after the congregation's affiliation with a branch of > the African Orthodox Church — services are conducted with a > haloed Coltrane gazing down from two Byzantine-style > paintings, a scroll of some sort in his left hand and > tongues of fire pyramiding in the bell of the horn he holds > like a staff in his right. Although clearly meant to > signify the Pentecost (and perhaps the living hell of drug > addiction), those flames also inevitably suggest a tendency > to set Coltrane's music of the 1960's against a backdrop of > that era's wars and rumors of war — against remembered > images of napalm dropped from helicopters and inner cities > put to the torch by their own residents. (July 17, 1967, > the night he died, was the worst night of the Newark > riots.) > > Jazz is often spoken of as if it were a religion, and the > founders of St. John's took literally what the pianist Red > Garland intended figuratively in 1955, when he described > Coltrane to a record producer as "the new Messiah." Garland > meant that Coltrane was the next Charlie Parker. There were > hipsters who went on a midnight picnic with Parker in Los > Angeles in the late 1940's and swore they saw him walk on > water. But this may have been the reefer talking, and not > even Parker ever had a church named for him. > > "All of the monotheistic religions developed a mystical > tradition," the religious scholar Karen Armstrong points > out in "A History of God," referring to Judaism, > Christianity and Islam. "Only a few people are capable of > true mysticism, but in all three faiths (with the exception > of Western Christianity) it was the God experienced by the > mystics which eventually became normative among the > faithful." In Coltrane's case, there are listeners and > musicians for whom his journey comes to a stop after the > album "A Love Supreme," which he recorded in 1964. They > reject as ill-advised and virtually unlistenable the music > from his three final years, when he gave his blessing to > the supposed heretics of that era's avant-garde by allowing > them to share the bandstand with him. But it was during > those years that those who stuck with him began to speak of > him in mystical terms, and this is now the language applied > retroactively to even his earliest, more temporal work. > > All religions have their apocrypha, and jazz is no > exception, especially when it comes to Coltrane. Even some > people who knew him personally still buy his own story that > he began toying with soprano saxophone after finding one > that had been left in the trunk of his car by an unnamed > musician to whom he gave a ride. In fact, Coltrane > purchased the soprano he used on "My Favorite Things" from > a factory in Elkhart, Ind., making a special trip there > from Chicago with the saxophonist James Moody, after > seeking advice from Steve Lacy, one of the very few > modernists to play soprano before Coltrane. The more > colorful account was Coltrane's way of taking the pressure > off until he gained adequate facility on his new horn. > > He is often said to have made his 1962 album of nothing but > three- to four-minute ballads because he was suffering from > dental and embouchure problems at the time and unable to > sustain fast tempos or long improvisations. But he > continued to play fast and long in clubs, and any > saxophonist will tell you that ballads are the last thing > you want to try if your teeth are hurting and you can't > find a comfortable mouthpiece. The truth is that these > ballads were intended as jukebox singles, and that Coltrane > occasionally thought commercially. > > Another popular story goes that he found out that "A Love > Supreme" had been certified gold, signifying sales of a > half-million copies, when he visited the offices of Impulse > Records a few days before his death and saw the gold record > on his producer's wall. But "A Love Supreme" was not > certified gold until late last year, and there is no > evidence to prove that Impulse ever cheated Coltrane out of > royalties. > > In the end, the greatest miracle performed by Coltrane > might be his success in gaining a large audience despite > representing everything that people supposedly dislike > about modern jazz, beginning with the complexity of his > solos and their sheer length. A friend of mine claims to > have once gone to hear Coltrane at a club in Boston, left > to go record shopping for an hour or so during his solo on > "My Favorite Things," and then returned to the club just in > time to hear him end with the theme. I might be inclined to > dismiss this story as apocryphal, too, except that I have > heard too many others like it. > > Elvin Jones once likened Coltrane's epic performances to > black church services, which also tend to go on long; you > leave them spiritually renewed, Mr. Jones said, not > physically tired. But the analogy doesn't work, because > black congregations play active roles in their services, > whereas Coltrane put audiences in the position of playing > flies on the wall while he worked at splitting the atom. > > Earlier this year, a ballad anthology was released called > "Coltrane for Lovers." The concept wasn't exactly new; > Coltrane's 1963 album with the crooner Johnny Hartman has > for decades served as high-end make- out music, something > tasteful to bring to an intimate dinner, along with a good > wine. > > Coltrane certainly had a seductive way with ballads, but it > wasn't the ballads that kept the faithful coming back night > after night when he would play their local clubs in the > 1960's, and it isn't the ballads that draw so many of us to > him now. At its highest level, music is a form of > mathematics, and in the work of some experimentalists you > can practically hear the click of an abacus. Coltrane draws > attention away from it by somehow making us believe that > whatever was at stake for him in his solos is also at stake > for us. More than any other performer of his time or ours, > he is a god we create, if not in our own image, then > according to our desires and beliefs. `New' Coltrane on > CD > > The most provocative of the CD's being released in time for > John Coltrane's 75th anniversary is "The Olatunji Concert" > (Impulse 314 589 120-2). It captures his last band, > featuring the tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the > drummer Rashied Ali, performing a benefit for a Harlem > cultural center created by the Nigerian percussionist > Babatundi Olatunji. The concert, in April 1967, was three > months before Coltrane's death. > > "Late" Coltrane, as the music is frequently referred to, > qualifies as such strictly by default; there is no way of > knowing whether he would have continued on the winding path > we hear him taking here. The free jazz movement, which he > drew as much inspiration from as it drew from him, ground > to a virtual standstill in response to his death. Poor > sound quality makes it almost impossible to judge the > merits of the two long performances on "The Olatunji > Concert," beyond noting its lacerating intensity. But that > intensity is its own reward: this is music from the only > period of Coltrane's career that remains controversial, and > the CD allows us the privilege of dropping in on disputed > history in the making. > > Also recommended is "Live Trane" (Pablo 7PACD-4433), a > seven-CD box, which more than doubles the amount of > commercially released material from the European tours > Coltrane made from 1961 to 1963, and which finds him > routinely topping his greatest studio work from the same > period. > > The most wide-ranging of the various anthologies is > "Legacy" (Impulse 314 589 295-2), scheduled for release > early next year. It's a four-CD set of performances wisely > chosen by the tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, John > Coltrane's son. > > Still, probably the best introduction to Coltrane remains > the intact albums on which his reputation was initially > based: "Giant Steps," "My Favorite Things," "Live at the > Village Vanguard" and "A Love Supreme." > Francis Davis, a contributing editor of The Atlantic > Monthly, is the author of ``Like Young,'' a collection of > essays on music, to be published this fall. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/arts/music/23DAVI.html?ex=1002273770&ei=1&en > =933dcf146015ca17 > > > > HOW TO ADVERTISE > --------------------------------- > For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters > or other creative advertising opportunities with The > New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson > Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media > kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo > > For general information about NYTimes.com, write to > help@nytimes.com. > > Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
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