Customer Reviews

Coltrane: The Story of a Sound

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here the music of John Coltrane, arguably one of America's most important 20th Century Artists, has been laid bare on the musical autopsy table by a seasoned and confident art and Jazz critique, Ben Ratliff.

To those of us from the 1960s, whose intellect and artistic sensibilities were being constantly challenged -- even assaulted -- by a need to understand Coltrane's music, this is a welcomed contribution to the history of Jazz and to a better understanding of the music theory behind post-modern Jazz music and its familiar compositions. Using a dialect that fuses the vernacular of bebop with his own rich self-invented language of the art critic, Ratliff wields a deft scalpel in this his own self-styled musical autopsy room.

In part one of this two-part dissection laboratory, Raliff examines Coltrane's music using dense, sometimes even layered and often deeply intellectual language and analysis borrowed from music theory, excerpted from the tapes of live Jazz presentations, and from the "head sessions' of many famous Jazz musician's practice sessions. He does so with great erudition but without over-hyping or being pretentious, boring or pedantic.

Ratliff situates Coltrane's development as a musician and as a person in the context of a politically and socially hectic, but artistically rich and fertile, time. For instance:

He points out that Bebop was a new language of blues-based modernism, developed in NY in the early 40s by Charley Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and associated with fast tempos, asymmetrical melodic lines, and chord harmonies inspired by Stravinsky, Debussy, and Bartok. Ratliff explains Parker's eureka moment as being when he used the higher interval of a chord as a melody line and backed them up with appropriately related changes - only then could he play everything he had been hearing. He explains too how the two giants of the post-Charley Parker era, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, "separately colonized the post-Parker universe."

With great precision and an innate sensitivity to what is important, he explains Coltrane's idea of sheets of sound as being similar to the sketching of a "thin-pointed pen" versus that of a "paint-roller" -- both tracing out the same melodies. Or, as Coltrane challenged Wayne Shorter to do: "play all the sounds you can hear emanating from the "dronggg" caused by dropping a forearm across the piano keys.

Part I covers Coltrane's graduate degrees in advance music theory from both Miles Davis and his apprenticeship under Theolonius Monk; his brief stint with the master of the Avant-Garde, Ornette Coleman; and the expansive musical developments and interpretations he acquired from associations with Sun Ra, Rav Shankar, and many others. Coltrane's language on the saxophone was the language of sophistication. He played lavishly around, behind, above and outside simple changes; and he did so with great depth, stamina, fervor, and tenderness. In what is not an altogether apocryphal story, Raliff relates a tale that Coltrane, toward the end of his life, simply ran out of things that could be played on the saxophone, and out of new musical forms that could be explored.

In part two, the author gives a rich sample of comments, commentaries and critiques of those who studied, or studied with, or were affected by Coltrane's persona and music. These are well-selected comments and critiques designed to reveal even more about the artist and his music; and they do. A great part of section two draws on the rich history of Jazz and the subtext is devoted to understanding the context in which Coltrane existed both musically and socially. As the author points out, no one can understand John Coltrane without understanding that he was obsessed by, and obsessed with, musical sound, and by the demands he placed on himself in his quest for the perfect sound. Coltrane was about three things: Sound, sound, and more sound. For instance, even at their least inhibited, Coltrane's solos still show stamina that comes from difficult, almost demonic, obsessive and solitary practicing; they are derived from a deep and profound knowledge of the intricacies of music theory, and as always, his music is immensely and intricately "worked out music" in search of "the ultimate sound."

Like all great artists, Coltrane altered the lives of those he touched and of those who emulated him. They ceased to see Jazz as an exercise book, or a record collection but as an art form of open-ended possibilities. This is a fine piece of Jazz historical writing that will endure. Five Stars.

John Coltrane is an endlessly fascinating musician, whether or not you like his music - he was both traditional and forward-looking, immensely disciplined and constantly striving for more freedom, technically brilliant yet willing to work with musicians considerably less able than himself. He made a series of relatively undistinguished recordings before suddenly emerging as a phenomenon when hired by Miles Davis, and then he went from one level to another, taking jazz to terrifying levels of complexity before breaking it down into something starkly simple.

Ben Ratliff's book is about two things: what Coltrane wanted to do, and what people have wanted from Coltrane. He is clearly a good listener, and someone acutely aware of how Coltrane was coming across at the time. He is also very sensitive to the depths people have sometimes sunk to in both praise and dispraise of the man, citing as evidence both Frank Kofsky's absurd description of 'Live at the Village Vanguard Again!' as the greatest recording in the history of jazz, and Philip Larkin's bilious and vindictive article, written shortly after Coltrane's death, about how much he hated Coltrane's music - Larkin surely wanted to make other people agree with him that it was worthless, which is never a very noble ambition in a critic.

Unusually for a jazz writer, Ratliff is also aware of how Coltrane's enormous influence has spread beyond jazz and into rock and punk (never thought I would see the great jazz-punk bass player Mike Watt mentioned in a book on Coltrane). He argues, if I take his point correctly, that Coltrane's influence has often been to make subsequent players sound like Coltrane, whereas the influence of an equally gifted player such as Sonny Rollins has worked more obliquely, helping players to sound more like themselves (perhaps because Sonny is not as imitable as Trane). It's true that, of the players (at least the sax players) who were most influenced by Coltrane, the majority have not been able to overcome his influence and develop truly distinctive voices - people on the level of Dave Liebman, etc., being the exceptions rather than the rule.

This book does not require a degree in music theory to read, or any musical talent whatever. It helps if you've listened to a lot of music. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and my only quibble is that it wasn't longer. I can read about Coltrane forever.

Ratliff does an extrodinary job on what had to be a difficult subject. He has a way with words like very few authors I've read in a long,long time. Not only is his vocabulary boundless but the way he uses his word knowledge is beyond about anything one finds today. He must be the finest Jazz writer in the USA.

It's hard not to be amazed by John Coltrane's music, even for interested fans who are not expert musicians themselves (that applies to your current reviewer). Here Ben Ratliff digs deep into the substance of Coltrane's creative process - and most of all that elusive entity known as SOUND. Trying to do this in writing is an immediately incongruous prospect, though Ratliff does pretty well with prose that is full of precise musical adjectives and technical terminology that is reasonably easy for the non-expert reader to follow, all things considered. Though just watch out for the frequently congested prose that becomes necessary for Ratliff to transmit the sheer complexity of the music, such as "the meditative and semierotic aesthetic of endurance, of repetition, of ecstatic religion..." Here we can see how technical jazz really is as a genre, with Coltrane perhaps amongst the most knowledge-intensive. Another revelation here is evidence of Coltrane's lifelong search for musical perfection, as he passionately studied various instruments and genres, and even literature and languages, in a quest for the perfect sound. However, there is an underlying irony to Ratliff's entire endeavor, in that there is no proof that Coltrane (or any jazz musician of his caliber) saw the musical process in the same way as critics and writers, no matter how knowledgeable they are. One must wonder if such passionate technical analysis truly makes one appreciate the music, or if a less obsessive attitude is necessary to really feel the sound. What kind of love did Coltrane seek? [~doomsdayer520~]

Johnny Coltrane was an artist who was so dedicated, so focussed, so momochromatic that his very being was enmeshed with creating his unique music, almost to the exclusion of any outside existence. It may have been difficult to write a biography of this seminal artist. Make no mistake, this was no biography. It is a story of the evolution of a style of music, which the author, Ben Ratliff, calls his "Sound".

Coltrane played with many of the Jazz Titans of the 1960's and 1970's. Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins to name two. Yet, while there is no denying the brilliance of these other two artists, Johnny Coltrane's influence overcame these and other jazz creators. So much so, the author contends, that future generations of Jazz Artists had to consciously avoid trying to "outColtrane Coltrane".

Coltrane left the musical stage, and lost his life at a painfully young age of 40. Had he survived, he may have become a parody of himself, or maybe, just ignored. Yet, his death opened up a vast exploration and appreciation of his music.

The author, Ben Ratliff does not explore his personal life. This is all about his music. As a musical layman, much of the technical music discussion was lost on me. I was able to push through, though, and still found the book not only of interest, but an interesting and important read.

I'm torn about my star rating for this review. The book is very well written and probably not intended for someone like me. I'm not a musician, nor an intellectual and I felt at times like I was in over my head when reading this book. Mr. Ratliff attempts to delve into what John Coltrane was trying to achieve through his music. I'm sure he researched extensively and there are several interview excerpts peppered throughout, but in the end, it all feels a bit like a science experiment. While I enjoyed parts, overall I don't feel I took much away from the experience. Again, this is not a knock on Mr. Ratliff's talents, he's obviously a gifted writer and someone with a musical background would very likely come away with a different experience. If you are looking for a Coltrane biography however, look elsewhere. This one's more about the music, than the man.

The focus of this book is the evolution of John Coltrane's sound and (in part two of the book) the adulation and reverence that many jazz musicians have had for his music after his death. This book is not a rehash of previously published books on Coltrane: the author thinks for himself, writes very well, and has intelligent things to say about Coltrane and his influence on jazz.

Allow me a proviso. I haven't yet read or looked into Lewis Porter's John Coltrane: His Life and Music, which I understand is the current standard biography on Coltrane (I try to buy most of my books used and haven't come across it yet, and I prefer to read chronologically, if possible), so if the book under review is derivative in any significant way from Porter's, I don't know it. Of the four books I've recently read on Coltrane (see my reviews) I recommend Eric Nisenson's Ascension: John Coltrane And His Quest as a complement.

I swallow everything up John Coltrane, been listening to his music since the days when he walked the Earth and I must say this book is impressive. It is impressive because the author takes a different approach , he dissects the sound, or if you will, the different stages that produced different sounds, that were all bound together by the unmistakable end result and unique sound that is Trane, regardless of the period. At times the author rambles on ,over theorizing for the average, or for that matter, avid fan of Coltrane music. He postulates on certain things for discussion that in fact really have no basis in fact, like Coltrane's supposed use of LSD. His drug addiction was well known and verified but this is regarding heroin. The author theorizes the influence drugs had on his music which is arguable. What is certain is Coltrane's constant search to improve his sound, extending the limits of the sax, to the point where many argue, including the author, that the limits have been explored to the point of no return; in other words, Trane achieved it all and no one since, or in the future will achieve the magnitude of Trane's exploration of sound from the sax. The book is an exhaustive study of the various periods that led to Trane's development into the sax god that he became. If you like analysis and critique than you will enjoy this distinct view and take on the music of John Coltrane. So if you are so inclined, slap a copy of A Love Supreme or My Favorite Things into your machine and enjoy the music while you read the theories behind the music and the man that is John Coltrane. Highly recommended for aficinados of jazz and Trane.

A good read for anyone (musician, jazzophile, or neither) interested in Trane or curious as to why people are so devoted to his music. Well written and fresh perspective on Trane's musical evolution and its impact. Not a re-hash of his biography.

i love john coltrane's music. thanks to this book, i know i lot more the things these musical jazz giants went through and i understand why i could not always follow the chords. this author dies a good job. well done