Help me understand John Coltrane .... seriously.

I have been passionately listening to jazz music -- primarily hard bop and fusion -- for almost fifty years.  I have enormous John Coltrane and Miles Davis catalogs.  Although there are some Miles Davis avant-garde titles that "speak another language" to me, I have never, to paraphrase Will Rogers, met a John Coltrane title that I did not like, indeed, love.  Put quite simply, the man is the greatest musician in history.  But he just might not be everyone's cup of tea.  So I will not recommend any titles to you.  I will state, however, that A Love Supreme is without a doubt Coltrane's best work.   

I can't connect with John Coltrane either. When I hear many sax. players I instantly know its them by the way they sound but Coltrane leaves me cold. There are other musicians/composers whose music doesn't touch me too, such as Delius, J.S. Bach. I guess its each to his own. 

To go back, yes, we have connection to some artists and not to others, but I feel, strongly, that what we think of as just who WE are is learned.

Knowledge and exposure to it and art changes who you are at a fundamental level, so hearing early Coltrane, and who he was answering can change my ideas and your listening entirely.

So, while I appreciate that I'm not alone, I hope others won't mind if I try a little harder. :)

Best,


Erik

As a Davis / Coltrane fiend, I second a lot of the advice on easing into Coltrane through the First Great Quintet years (55-58).  Workin is my fave of the Prestige recordings. Kind Of Blue speaks for itself. I’d suggest one other approach: the Thelonious Monk/Coltrane works, which were in the same period (56-57).  The Monk&Coltrane The Complete Riverside Recordings are available on CD for about $10... a easy intro.  Thelonius Monk With John Coltrane is about $10 on CD as well. The T. Monk Quartet with Coltrane at Carnegie Hall is a nice extra.  Monk was a significant influence on both Davis and Coltrane, and (IMO) his focused approach to bebop is a wee bit like Coltrane’s focused approach to free jazz. Once Coltrane left Davis, his early work is the most accessible.  Blue Train and Soultrane don’t get the same attention that Giant Steps and Lush Life do.  Coltrane Plays The Blues is a good listen. Anything after A Love Supreme gets...challenging. Both Directions At Once and Blue World are kinda the bridges to ALS.  Ascension is an acquired taste.  In all, Coltrane’s evolution is a lot like Davis’ - at a certain point, the WTF factor sets in for me. YMMV.  Bin voyage!

For what it is worth, I had the same experience and mentioned it to a composer friend....he simply explained that JC was simply looking for God....changed everything for me