Jazz Master

John Coltrane, Master Of Jazz
Saxophonist / Bandleader / Jazz Musician

American jazz great John Coltrane emerged in the 1950s, playing tenor and soprano sax with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. A leader of “hard bop”, in the 1960s he led his own groups and changed the face of jazz with experimentation and improvisation, his later recordings reflecting his belief that music was a form of spiritual expression. Sometimes called simply ‘Trane, his recordings include Giant Steps (1959), My Favorite Things (1960), Olé (1961) and A Love Supreme (1964). In his later recordings he collaborated on avante-garde music with his wife, Alice Coltrane (b. Alice McLeod, 1937-2007), who had a career in her own right.

Extra credit: The band sometimes called Coltrane’s “classic quartet” of the early 1960s included McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Jimmy Garrison (bass).

http://who2.com/ask/johncoltrane.html

Some Key Recordings as Leader:
Blue Train – Blue Note CDP 746095 CD, 1957
Soultrane – Original Jazz Classics OJC 021 CD, 1958
Giant Steps – Atlantic A2 1311 CD, 1959
My Favorite Things – Atlantic 1361 CD, 1960
The Complete Africa/Brass – Impulse! IMPD 2-168 CD, 1961
Crescent – Impulse! MCAD 5889 CD, 1964
A Love Supreme – Impulse! GRD 155 CD, 1964
The Major Works of John Coltrane – Impulse! GRD 21132 CD, 1965
Meditations – Impulse! MCAD 39139 CD, 1965
Interstellar Space – Impulse! GRD 110 CD, 1967
Key Partners:
McCoy Tyner
Elvin Jones
Jimmy Garrison
Eric Dolphy
Pharoah Sanders
Rashied Ali
Alice Coltrane
Some Other Key Recordings:
With Miles Davis
‘Round About Midnight – Columbia CK 40610 CD, 1955-56
Milestones – Columbia CK 40837 CD, 1958
Kind of Blue – Columbia CK 40579 CD, 1959
With Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane – Original Jazz Classics OJC 039 CD, 1957

http://www.wnur.org/jazz/artists/coltrane.john/

Miles Davis

Trumpeter / Jazz Musician

Name at birth: Miles Dewey Davis, Jr.

In the 1940s, Miles Davis went off to New York City to study music at Julliard. He ended up playing jazz with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie instead, soon playing trumpet behind some of the biggest bandleaders of the era. As a bandleader himself during the 1950s and ’60s, his influence led to “cool” jazz and the emergence of the musician as composer and arranger. He recorded many classic albums, including Relaxin’ With Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool, and, with compositional help from Bill Evans, Kind of Blue; his 1969 Bitches Brew, merging jazz with rock and free-form improvisation, made the top 40 pop charts. Unlike many trumpeters of his era, Davis relied on tone rather than speed, often using a mute with his horn. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of the past century.

Extra credit: Many sources claim 25 May as Davis’s birth date, and some sources list 29 September as his death date.

http://who2.com/milesdavis.html

In the early 1970s, Miles kept experimenting with the electric instruments and fusing more funk into his music. In 1976, a combination of bad health, cocaine use, and lack of inspiration caused Miles to go into a 5-year retirement. He conquered his cocaine habit, received new inspiration and returned in 1981 and made a series of records that I haven’t heard. He did keep pushing music, as he was not one to rest on his laurels and play his old music. He started experimenting more with synthesizers and using studio techniques in his recordings. He won a series of Grammy Awards during this decade and continued turning out sidemen, such as Garrett, Stern, and Berg, listed above. Miles Davis died in 1991.

http://www.milesdavis.com/bio.asp

See Miles Davis complete discography at http://www.milesdavis.com/music_discography.asp