Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The World According to John Coltrane: His Life & Music Revealed in Heartfelt 1990 Documentary


This is another excellent find from Open Culture, especially for lovers of classic jazz. If you are a fan of John Coltrane's experimental and innovative approach to jazz, or if you simply want to know he is held in such high esteem, despite his early death from liver cancer (age 40), then this is the perfect documentary.

Below the video post, I am including the list of interviewees and tracks played in the film.

The World According to John Coltrane: His Life & Music Revealed in Heartfelt 1990 Documentary


April 8th, 2013


In his short life, John Coltrane continually pushed the boundaries of music. From swing to bebop to free jazz, Coltrane was a restless seeker of new sounds. Inspired by the hypnotic, trance-inducing traditional music of North Africa and Asia, Coltrane created a new kind of music that fused jazz and Eastern spirituality.

The World According to John Coltrane tells the story of Coltrane’s quest, from his childhood in a deeply religious household in North Carolina to his early days playing saxophone in the Navy, to his apprenticeship with Miles Davis in the 1950s and his emergence as a bandleader and innovator in the 1960s. Most of the one-hour film is devoted to Coltrane’s later period, when he came into his own. The film is not a biography, in the traditional sense. There is very little about Coltrane’s personal life–his marriages, children, drug problems and declining health. Director Robert Palmer focuses instead on Coltrane’s journey as a musician.

The World According to John Coltrane was made in 1990, and includes interviews with Coltrane’s second wife, pianist Alice Coltrane, and a number of other musicians who knew Coltrane and played with him, including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, drummer Rashied Ali, and Pianist Tommy Flanagan. It provides some excellent insights into one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians.

via metafilter

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Additional information:


Musicians interviewed include:
  • Roscoe Mitchell (saxophonist)
  • Rashied Ali (drummer)
  • Tommy Flanagan (pianist)
  • Jimmy Heath (saxophonist)
  • Wayne Shorter (saxophonist)
  • La Monte Young (composer)
  • Alice Coltrane (wife, pianist, harpist)

Tracks:
1 - A Love Supreme
2 - Alabama
3 - Blue Monk
4 - Dahomey Dance
5 - Dear Lord
6 - Eight Miles High
7 - Giant Steps
8 - Gospel Song 1
9 - Gospel Song 2
10 - Hot House
11 - Impressions
12 - Impressions 2
13 - India
14 - Koko
15 - Moroccan Folk Song
16 - My Favorite Things
17 - My Favorite Things 2
18 - Naima
19 - Number One
20 - Raga Bhimpalisi
21 - Roscoe In Morocco
22 - Round Midnight
23 - So What
24 - Things To Come

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