Eric Iverson Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 For any of you who may happen to be Coltrane fans, you can listen to a whole day of his music for free on WKCR-FM, listen online. I don't know if it's still true, but back in the late '60s lots of guitar players idolized Trane, even though he played sax and not guitar. He was a cultural icon at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Hell, Eric. Even young men these days who CLAIM to "dig" jazz don't have any idea who the hell he was. I mentioned John Coltrane to a young man whom also claimed to be a jazz "lover" (one of those guys who can drop a lot of names, probably learned online, but not connect them with any other musicians.) And HE asked me if he was related to British comic ROBBIE COLTRANE! These jokers will mention "Giant Steps", and go on about his association with Miles Davis, whom they also don't know much about, and seem to look blank faced when you bring up "OM" or "AFRICA BRASS" If I'm also not mistaken, our(guitar players) idolizing of Trane in the late '60's had more to do with his delve into Eastern religion than his music, which despite, WAS somewhat "out there". At the same time, we were also taken with the weirdness of not only the NAME, but also the MUSIC of Thelonius Monk. As I don't really care much for the sound "quality"(an OXYMORON in this case) of radio and/or YouTube clips on a PC, I'll pass the online tribute. Guess I'll have to settle for some of my old vinyls, or CD re-issues played on my Nakamichi Stasis and M&K speakers. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Iverson Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Well, SOME of the adulation was maybe due to the Eastern religion thing - he was a big Ravi Shankar fan and named his son after him. The hippies were into Eastern religion in an "instant satori" sort of way, enlightenment without a whole lot of EFFORT, LOL. Yes, some of his music, such as "Om" was and is still pretty out there. I find that period with Pharaoh Sanders and (later) Alice Coltrane hard to listen to! Of course, some of the rest of it is much more inside - he was a master of chordal playing and melody, too. It was never avant-garde cause he couldn't play anything else! Oddly enough, there is (or was) an actual Church of John Coltrane where they worship him as a saint and play his records as part of the service. I don't go for that kind of idolatry, myself, regarding John Coltrane or anybody else.... and I'll leave that point alone - no reason to get the thread deleted, LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 "You've got to look back and the old things and see them in a new light." A cool cat that knew the importance of being close to nature and making music the most important thing in his life, that he shared with all of us...without knowing if the listener would understand (just read a few of his quotes and you can share in his philosophy). I don't really understand Giant Steps but I know it's out there as a lesson for us all... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 What's NOT to understand about "Giant Steps"? Just a well played "straight ahead" jazz LP he put out around '60-'61 or so. No "avant garde" (which he never really ever DID play), just pleasant and "groovin' " jazz. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 <---I know you hate YouTube clips with poor sound quality up against your speakers, and I know you're having trouble with calling up the YouTube links on your computer, but try and pull up this one if you can Fang (I have posted it in the past). It's very fun to watch and to listen to as the music starts playing on the sheets IMHO... I wasn't talking about the LP as much as my inability to play Giant Steps and fully understand it. It's above my pay grade LOL! ps. listen to those piano chord(s) back up while the sax is playing...I couldn't even keep up with the chords LOL! Then there's the 14 (or is it 48) bar improvised fantastic piano solo with chords! Not too difficult to understand? Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I wasn't talking about the LP as much as my inability to play Giant Steps and fully understand it. It's above my pay grade LOL! No shame, Larry. Coltrane was above a LOT of guy's' pay grades! Got my clip problem fixed, so I gave it a quick listen. But I have this material on other medium and just listened for a few seconds Thanks. Quick second thought---It's no use for the average guitar slinger to even ATTEMPT to keep up with Tommy Flannigan's piano work on that cut. Or ANY cut for that matter! Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Yeah, I've played keyboads now and back in the day, so the piano work just rubbed salt in my wounds as there was no way I could play it on a guitar or on a piano LOL! Ps. great stuff though...the piano got to me more than the sax did LOL! Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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