Product Description
This collection of 26 tenor sax transcriptions features some of jazz giant John Coltane's most important solos: Blue Train Central Part West Giant Steps Impressions Lazy Bird Moment's Notice My Favorite Things 'Round Midnight and more. Includes a bio, notation guide, alternate fingerings, and discography with historical notes on the recordings.
Customer Reviews:
Next to Charlie Parker's Omni book, there is no better.......2007-03-09
I first got the Charlie Parker Omni solo books and this was the second one I got for playing. Each player has a different style and harmonic approach to the sax, so playing in their notes or foot steps, help you learn the horn, jazz and improvisation. This has a great selection of tunes from Trane. A great book to help you enjoy and learn to play jazz saxophone. Highly recommended for any horn player.
Meticulously researched and executed.......2004-12-15
There are many transcriptions of Coltrane's solos floating around out there. For professional saxophonists, writing down these solos is like taking a graduate course in jazz studies. The work presented here, along with the accompanying special fingerings and notes makes this the absolute best compilation on the market for aspiring and even professional musicians. Although written for (and played on) tenor, these lines can be applied to any instrument. I have played along with the original recordings with these transcriptions, and they are meticulously correct. To get the most out of the experience, I recommend using the book like an answer key and trying to transcribe the solo yourself first. You will be absolutely stunned at what this does for your understanding of jazz, Coltrane, and music in general.
Book Description
For use with all Bb, Eb, and C instruments, the JAZZ PLAY ALONG SERIES is the ultimate learning tool for all jazz musicians. With musician-friendly lead sheets, melody cues, and other split-track choices on the included CD, this first-of-its-kind package makes learning to play jazz easier than ever before. FOR STUDY, each tune includes a split track with: * Melody cue with proper style and inflection * Professional rhythm tracks * Choruses for soloing * Removable bass part * Removable piano part. FOR PERFORMANCE, each tune also has: * An additional full stereo accompaniment track (no melody) * Additional choruses for soloing. INCLUDES: Blue Train (Blue Trane) * Countdown * Cousin Mary * Equinox * Giant Steps * Impressions * Lazy Bird * Mr. P.C. * Moment's Notice * Naima (Neima).
Customer Reviews:
Execellent .......2007-01-05
This is a great gift for someone who is learning to play sax. to play and improvise on some of the works in this book feels wonderful.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent biographical Sketch........2005-05-15
This is a thoroughly enjoyable brief biographical and analytical sketch of John Coltrane's development from a good sideman to the most influential jazz musician of his era. Coltrane's intensity and his approach to his art is wonderfully portrayed. There are anecdotes from various performances and recording sessions as well as brief forays into his personal life and struggles with addiction. Nisenson writes with the appropriate level of reverence for a man who has given so much through his music and includes numerous quotes from other musicians ,especially Miles Davis on Coltrane and what made him unique. My only complaint is the book is too short. I finished it wanting more.
ALONE IN THE HOUSE WITH COLTRANE.......2004-10-14
ALONE IN THE HOUSE WITH COLTRANE
-for eric nissenson
Lift the music into your own life.
Reggie Workman says, I used to follow John
like you would follow the sun. I'm listening.
The dogs are here. How can I be alone?
The clarinetist Don Byron says,
If a cat is taking risks at a moment,
years later you can still hear the edge of it.
I'm looking at all that gold paint Rex put
everywhere-in Coltrane's shirt
and in the saxophone itself.
Four song titles in gold criss-cross
their way through four bronze portraits
of Coltrane. The seeker is always alone.
Rex knew he was going back to Arkansas
when he gave me this painting.
There's as much music in the story
as there is in the music.
I had a couple of pieces and went with them.
They got mixed in with other stuff.
Some of it was right.
It helped take me down the road.
The tree pruner knocks on my door.
We talk about the Sweet Gum Tree
overlooking the Garden Room in the front yard.
Stems blow out of phase in old trees
like this. Blowing in and rebounding,
instances of the giant limbs pulling apart
under strong forces are rare. Support
at the extremities moves them where they
want to move. Do you know Coltrane? I ask.
Not personally, he says. I pull a notebook
from the back pocket of my jeans.
Coltrane follows the line to see what
it will bear, He adds drummers and saxophones,
as well as bells, to be limbs and branches,
to see what will happen in wind.
"You turn those trees into music," I say.
No way. I'm a climber. I've been looking at your tree.
It's been taken care of, I can go anywhere in that tree
I need to be in the wind. When I'm in a tree
I'm searching for those underlying principles-
the bones underneath it all. The pruner
knows the story without knowing
the music. I grew up in a house with no rules.
I needed limits. Vibrations and harmonies
cross-platforms to growing things.
I know the language of jazz and trees.
My wife doesn't. She thinks it's elevator music.
I walk him in the house,
show him Rex's painting of Love Supreme.
I'm astounded by the length of time
I rested here, in a lazy mix of myth and story.
Dear Eric, Your book arrives first,
but Simpkins' is the life I am looking for.
At first I think he's enough.
I love the way he opens up the story
through voice alone, introducing Coltrane and the players
like family at a holiday meal.
Impeccable manners and intimate talk.
It's the story the way my mother might tell it,
positive and straight to God.
I mark your Kesey story in the Preface
as one I'll share with friends.
I still think I have what I need in the story
Rex is an artist and teacher. Early 30's.
My friend. He painted murals
of black history in Yakima on community walls
for ten years before going back to Arkansas this summer.
The tree pruner shows up at my door.
Your book thrills me. ascension.
Baseball, Jesus Seminar, Textual criticism.
Three sources and the truth will set us free.
No compromises. The conversation
Coltrane would have chosen to have.
The one no one asked for.
Criticism as trance. The way Hugh Kenner
helped us with Pound. Or Taylor Branch with King.
An era as much as a man. For the poet
the poem is already an artifact.
About your courage.
Write what you know and then write above that.
Starting with Coltrane must have helped.
Work brings the duende against our will.
For moments like this: This is why Coltrane is a genius.
For showing me where to go: Dear Lord is the peaceful side
of the search for God, and Transition, the darker, terror-laden side.
For Ascension is a time capsule,
and meditation is cleaning the mirror of the self.
Like you say, credulity is in short supply.
Your careful writing on Jarrett and Marsalis
is as important as everything you say about Miles:
He never got over losing Coltrane.
I wrote my son what you said about Hendrix.
Nothing could have prepared us for Bush the younger.
Coltrane wouldn't recognize anger as anger.
It wouldn't make any sense to him.
Why are you angry? is a very funny question.
Mydentist creates a plastic form for my teeth.
He's interested in grinding teeth.
I put it in my mouth, a kind of bridle.
What will happen to my dreams, I ask.
I am interested in the left-handed way to God.
Never at home in my own church. Done with striving?
I've got friends who listen to Coltrane.
Barry Grimes gives me the Atlantic Years.
He looks at a word and sees the ocean.
Dan Peters finds Coltrane in the reservoir.
And what do you hear?
Opening with the bass and cymbals
I don't know if I can tell between
the soprano sax and the bass clarinet
when they get going. I want to hear
Dolphy's birds though. Coltrane's
way up high in India. Drum and bass
going at it. I can hear Dolphy now
in that bass clarinet. He's coming in low.
There's the piano a note at a time.
Tyner awfully quiet. I'm in India
but not any place I know.
I like knowing this comes after A Love Supreme.
The piano is starting to rumble now,
standing up to those drums. There's
a knock at the door. My dog barks.
I open my eyes. I haven't been sleeping.
I hear music stop and start.
Up against the wall. I've carried
these words my adult life.
I know policemen who could listen to this.
This morning alongside Meditations,
I turn to the last poems of Dr. Williams.
The smell of the heat is boxwood
when rousing us. These are desert poems
from 1954. Don't let me be a pretender, Lord,
not a pretender. This is my prayer.
I read before and after Asphodel, grateful.
And the last one, The Rewaking,
from 1962, Sooner or later,
we must come to the end
of striving. I turn back,
all works of the imagination,
interchangeable, and forward,
new ice on a country pool,
It doesn't matter what I choose,
In Deep Religious Faith,
invention is the heart of it.
The young fundamentalist tree climber
is more interesting to me than all of the priests of this world.
Jim Bodeen
Oct 1-13, 2004
Trane's Effect.......2003-06-29
I'm what I guess, a Trane enthusiast who gobbles up anything to read with the name Coltrane in it, always less critical with what I've read, perhaps only allowing for disappointment. I have always found Nisenson's books enjoyable to read, as you will find this one. His information, passion and experience connecting stories only furthered my understanding of John Coltrane's ability to affect so many, in so many ways explanable and unexplanable! Buy It! You won't be disappointed!
Thoughtful approach.......2003-03-18
Too often the words written about the career of John Coltrane lapse into idolatry or overanalysis. Biographies by J.C. Thomas and Cuthbert Simpkins lack a sense of critical judgment, while Bill Cole's work is fine for the musician but difficult for the lay listener. Frank Kofsky's "Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music," meanwhile, attempted to put Coltrane's music in a political framework he never intended.
Eric Nisenson's "Ascension," refreshingly, focuses on Coltrane's music, attempting to understand not only where it came from but also the extent of its influence on jazz since the saxophonist's death in 1967. Nisenson is clearly a fan of the music, but to his credit, his admiration does not cloud his critical judgment.
One important accomplishment of Nisenson's book is to establish a context for Coltrane's creativity and his late-life forays into free jazz. He revisits Coltrane's early life in North Carolina, where he grew up in relatively comfortable surroundings, exposed to the music of the church and of his father, a tailor and amateur musician. Nisenson also emphasizes Coltrane's early apprenticeships with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, Cleanhead Vinson and his time in Philadelphia, a hothouse of jazz playing that produced many an important contemporary, including Lee Morgan, Benny Golson and Jimmy Heath.
In addition, Nisenson thoroughly explores Coltrane's important time with Miles Davis, during which he mastered not only his chordal approach but also the modal approach to music and improvisation that Miles took on with "Kind of Blue." And he thoroughly documents Trane's later interest in the Eastern, African and other world music, which strongly influenced many of his albums as a leader.
In fact, Nisenson's attention to the searching quality of Coltrane's mind and his music generates the key theme of the book: that the saxophonist's greatness was derived not only from his musical mastery but from his unceasing search for new modes of expression. It was this search, Nisenson argues, that ultimately led Coltrane to embrace the avant-garde experiments undertaken by younger musicians such as Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and Pharaoh Sanders in the last few years of his life.
Nisenson does not downplay the courage required of Coltrane to push the limits of his music long after his fame had been established, and he could have played it safe, but neither does he shy away from being critical of some of the musician's later cacophonous efforts.
The sole criticism I have of the book is that it seems to reach the conclusion that since Coltrane, Miles and Ornette Coleman, there has been little in the way of true creativity on the jazz scene. A response would require another review, but suffice it to say that I disagree; that the current jazz scene may be more fragmented, and undoubtedly many musicians are playing it safe, but also that there are many young and older jazz musicians making very creative music on small labels.
That aside, this is a very worthwhile read for long-time listeners of Coltrane or for those coming to his music for the first time.
I recommend it.......2003-03-03
An excellent introduction for newcomers to Coltrane. Highly readable and sustains the reader's interest. No, it isn't perfect - I was amazed the author could discuss Weather Report and make no mention whatsoever of Jaco Pastorius, for one example. But if you want to know something of Coltrane, his music and his times I highly recommend this book.
Book Description
John Coltrane was a key figure in jazz, a pioneer in world music, and an intensely emotional force whose following continues to grow. This new biography, the first by a professional jazz scholar and performer, presents a huge amount of never-before-published material, including interviews with Coltrane, photos, genealogical documents, and innovative musical analysis that offers a fresh view of Coltrane's genius.
Compiled from scratch with the assistance of dozens of Coltrane's colleagues, friends, and family, John Coltrane: His Life and Music corrects numerous errors from previous biographies. The significant people in Coltrane's life were reinterviewed, yielding new insights; some were interviewed for the first time ever.
The musical analysis, which is accessible to the nonspecialist, makes its own revelations--for example, that some of Coltrane's well-known pieces are based on previously unrecognized sources. The Appendix is the most detailed chronology of Coltrane's performing career ever compiled, listing scores of previously unknown performances from the 1940s and early 1950s.
Coltrane has become a musical inspiration for thousands of fans and musicians and a personal inspiration to as many more. For all of these, Porter's book will become the definitive resource--a reliable guide to the events of Coltrane's life and an insightful look into his musical practices.
". . . well researched, musically knowledgeable, and enormously interesting to read. Porter is a jazz scholar with deep knowledge of the tradition he is studying, both conceptually and technically." --Richard Crawford, University of Michigan
"Lewis Porter is a meticulous person with love and respect for Afro-American classical music. I applaud this definitive study of my friend John Coltrane's life adn achievements." --Jimmy Heath, jazz saxophonist, composer, educator
Lewis Porter is Associate Professor of Music, Rutgers University in Newark. A leading jazz scholar, he is the author of Jazz Readings from a Century of Change and coauthor of Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present. He was a project consultant on The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Historical Reissue, and an editor and assisting author of the definitive Coltrane discography by Y. Fujioka.
Customer Reviews:
Coltrane: His Music.......2007-08-17
To fully appreciate this book the reader should certainly be able to read music. There are a multitude of scores that the reader should understand to be able to get the most out of this book. However even if you can't read music (As I can't) there is a lot to interest one in this book. Coltrane came from the Rocky Mount Section of NC. It seems ike he had an interesting, stable Family Life, though the Father does not seemed to have lived with him. Moved to Philly after High School, where he did Graduate. He was in the Service in the Mid 40s, and surprisingly was in an integrated Navy Band. I thought the services were segregated at that time.
There are also details of his two marriages.
If you can read music or at least understand scoring this book is highly recommended. If you are like me you will still probably enjoy it.
The first serious study of John Coltrane.......2006-11-28
Porter's biography is a detailed exploration of Coltrane's musical development, consisting of extensive analyses of selected examples of Coltrane's music, together with what reads like a patchwork of biographical details (much of which is newly researched and not included in other Coltrane biographies). The latter dimension of the work was apparently an afterthought which Porter started working on in 1994 after having spent the previous fourteen years working on the musical analysis (he indicates this in his preface to the book). The analysis of the music is challenging and would probably be inaccessible for someone who does not have some knowledge of music theory.
The biographical portion of the book seems to be well researched and explores parts of Coltrane's life which his other biographies have not delved into (although Porter does rely significantly on two previous biographies - one by J.C. Thomas, the other by C.O. Simpkins, to flesh out his own research). The first chapter, titled "Southern Roots," is an exploration of Coltrane's familial roots and the origins of the Coltrane name. A family geneology, photos of family marriage licenses, the 1920 census of High Point, North Carolina (where Coltrane grew up) and even Coltrane's birth certificate are included. The author then explores Coltrane's childhood through stories recounted by family members and friends who knew Coltrane as a boy. Included in this section is a remarkable photo of Coltrane's grade 3 class, in which the young Coltrane already has a look of concentrated seriousness.
Porter then goes into a lengthy exploration of Coltrane's early musical development through a discussion of Coltrane's encounters with books and teachings the saxophonist used to develop his obviously vast musical knowledge. This section, which dominates the first third of the book, is highlighted by interviews with other musicians, particularly Jimmy Heath, who knew Coltrane during his musically formative years, and by Porter's insights into some of the sources of Coltrane's playing. This section is definitely one of the strengths of the book.
During the second third, Porter makes the usual stops, touching on Coltrane's substance abuse, his membership in the Miles Davis Quintet and his apprenticeship with Thelonious Monk.
The final third of the book begins with Coltrane's final split with Davis and ends at the present time with an examination of the saxophonist's influence on contemporary music. In between, the formation and eventual dissolution of Coltrane's classic quartet is outlined. Within this last third is Porter's most intense analysis of Coltrane's music, highlighted by a very detailed exploration of one of the peaks of his art, "A Love Supreme."
Another chapter, called "The Man:'A Quiet, Shy Guy,'" in the final section presents quotes and interviews drawn from a variety of sources about aspects of Coltrane's personality along with his views on philosophy, religion, race and politics. This chapter, although useful, is somewhat awkward and might better have been integrated into the other chapters. As it is, it highlights one of the problems with Porter's book - it tries to be too many things and does not integrate them into an organic whole.
A particularly valuable part of the book is a forty page chronology which documents all of Coltrane's known performances and interviews. This section alone, might make the book worth purchasing for some readers.
In summary, if you are looking for an analysis of Coltrane's music, this is the place to look. If it's the biography you are interested in, this book cannot be ignored because it presents details not mentioned elsewhere but it still falls short. Porter's writing is dry and academic, which is useful for presenting the facts of an artist's life or for analysing his work, but it fails to evoke a sense of the man and the world he lived in. For that, a writer with a warmer, more imaginative style is needed.
The definitive Coltrane biography still remains to be written, but Porter's book is worth holding onto in the meantime.
The ultimate Coltrane bio.......2005-07-01
This is a nearly perfect biography in every way. It is comprehensive, objective, and written with a good understanding and appreciation of Coltrane's music. The tone is scholarly without being too dry -- a difficult balance to achieve.
The book is fairly long, providing in-depth coverage of Coltrane's life and music from his early development through his controversial late work. There is a good balance between discussion of his musical and personal development. There are lots of quotes included from people who knew him and worked with him.
For non-musicians, the theory and analysis may be intimidating and un-necessary. For musicians, it is good reading, but non-musicians may not understand some parts that deal strictly with music theory. I don't really think there is any way to explain the significane of Contrane's music in any depth without going into this type of explanation, so I cannot count this as criticism. How can one explain the significance of Giant Steps, for example, without describing the innovative harmonic movement by thirds? How can you give a good discussion of Interstellar Space without analyzing specific examples of motivic development? For non-jazz musicians or non-musicians, these parts can probably be skipped when they go over their heads without significant loss to the value of the book, but perhaps they should at least skim through them to get an idea of why Coltrane is such an important figure in jazz history.
There is adequate criticism and praise for Coltrane's music from many different, reliable sources included throughout. For example, McCoy Tyner's displeasure with the direction Coltrane took with his groups in the mid-60's is included, along with quotes from people who loved playing with him at that time.
Overall, this biography is objective, comprehensive, and enlightening to anyone interested in jazz or in the development of a remarkable talent in general. Very much recommended.
A New High in Jazz Scholarship.......2004-01-27
John Coltrane - His Life and Music
I have probably read nearly every biography on John Coltrane that is available in the hope of finding writing that is worthy of the scope of this jazz master's genius. Most of the reading I've done has been fairly disappointing...more like glorified fanzine articles rather than serious discussions of the man and his music. Eberhard Jost in his book Free Jazz does do some pretty in-depth analysis of the music of Coltrane, but almost all other books focus more on gossip and life details and leave the musical analysis to vague lofty sounding phrases that have very little meaning on a real level.
So Lewis Porter's book is a breath of fresh air, not just in writing about Coltrane, but also in jazz scholarship in general. Porter's is the first jazz biography I've read that is a really musicological biography and worthy to stand up to the biographies written about classical music figures. Rather than create a portrait with personal meditations, as J.C. Thomas did in Chasin' the Trane, or beating a predetermined ideological drum, as Frank Kofsky did in John Coltrane and the Jazz Revolution of the `60s, or create a fanzine kind of portrait, as Bill Cole did (by far the best of the pre-Porter bios, but still lightweight musically) or create a sort of modern day hagiography, as Eric Nisenson did in Ascension, John Coltrane's Quest, Porter gives us a straight biography, with little personal interjection, and a lot of penetrating insights based on the actual music Coltrane produced.
Porter's book has the benefit of more years of research into Coltrane's life and legacy. Increasingly, as the years since the 60s have worn on, it has become clear that the influence of Coltrane is perhaps the biggest single influence on all facets of jazz, arguably equaling or maybe even exceeding the influence of Charlie Parker. His is certainly the most all-pervading voice since Bird and the influence doesn't seem to be waning as the millennium turns. Porter's book relies on the best of the earlier biographies. He quotes Thomas and Cole with some frequency. But he also relies on a welter of recorded interviews with Trane, interviews with those who knew Trane, and with surviving family members, including much precious information about Trane's early years from his cousin Mary and from many of his childhood and Philly friends. The picture that emerges is not radically different than the picture we get from earlier biographies. All of the elements of the Coltrane mystique are there; the obsessive practicing, the drive to succeed, the drug addicted years, the dramatic kicking of the habit, the later search for musical and spiritual Truth, and the sudden and tragic death. But devoid of interpretation, these facts loose some of the legend surrounding them. To me, this can only be a good thing. Coltrane would not have wanted the worship that has developed around him. The details of Trane's life as outlined by Porter show a man who was deeply gifted, haunted by childhood loss, driven to perfect his art, and yet also daunted by lingering addictions and the physical havoc that he had played on his body early in his life. This Trane is no less worthy of honor than the legendary Trane, and a bit more loveable and human.
Where the Porter biography has it over all others is in the copious musical examples. Porter analyzes many recorded solos in detail, including Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, a Love Supreme, and perhaps most impressively Venus, from Coltrane's last recorded album. Porter's skill as a musicologist is quite impressive and a gift that is rarely given to jazz literature. He analyzes Trane's changing improvisational technique, from the early "sheets of sound" period, where pattern after pattern of complex, harmonically based scales are piled over chords, to the more melodically based modal material, based on the manipulation of short melodic cells. Porter gives us a glimpse into the mind of a genius here, showing the amazing logical processes behind Coltrane's font of inspiration. Also, for those who don't want this type of musical analysis, the chapters are located at dramatic breaks in the biography, and are easily skipped without loss of any significant information. This makes the book still accessible for the non-musician.
This is not a perfect book. Porter does occasionally make himself known as an author, something which is not usual in scholarly biographies. This usually happens when he interjects the phrase, in my opinion. It's not a real fault, but in a book of such scholarly aspirations, these comments probably should have been edited out or reworded so that they didn't jar quite as much. More serious is the chapter that discusses the medical issues with Trane's death. Much nonsense has circulated about Trane's death, which Porter attempts to correct. Unfortunately, he does so with poorly drawn medical arguments. For instance, cirrhosis of the liver has very little if anything to do with liver cancer, and while he is correct that for cirrhosis to occur the patient has to be an active alcoholic or drug abuser, some studies indicate liver cancer can be affected by abuser, even years after the patient stops using. The causes of Trane's death are probably complex and may never be fully explained, but Porter should have checked his medical sources a bit more carefully or steered clear of this potential minefield.
But despite those fairly small points, this is a major step forward in Coltrane scholarship and in the whole field of Jazz Studies. Porter has set a new high for jazz writing; one that I hope will be met by a new crop of scholars. If any American art form deserves this kind of scrutiny, jazz is it.
For you Coltrane listeners/fans!.......2003-06-13
After reading this biography of him, I had so much more knowledge of him that I didn't have before. There is more to his life than what most people think. A must read for jazz/Coltrane fans! A lot of musical analysis, too.
Book Description
Few albums in the canon of popular music have had the influence, resonance, and endurance of John Coltrane's 1965 classic A Love Supreme-a record that proved jazz was a fitting medium for spiritual exploration and for the expression of the sublime. Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that characterized his critically acclaimed Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Kahn tells the story of the genesis, creation, and aftermath of this classic recording. Featuring interviews with more than one hundred musicians, producers, friends, and family members; unpublished interviews with Coltrane and bassist Jimmy Garrison; and scores of never-before-seen photographs, A Love Supreme balances biography, cultural context, and musical analysis in a passionate and revealing portrait.
Customer Reviews:
One More Session For A True Expressionist.......2007-09-06
What can be said about this album?; on this book are mentioned details about this historic spiritual session that any music, jazz fan must indeed know. Read it and grow.
Great book!.......2007-02-11
"A Love Supreme" was already one of my favourite jazz record before I read this, but after having read the book, now I listen to the music in a totally different way.
I'm not a spiritual or religious person at all, but the book helped me understand what was probably going through Coltrane's mind (from a spiritual point of view) when he composed and recorded "A Love Supreme".
Homage or Adulation?.......2005-10-14
Kahn's stellar research for this volume on Coltrane's best known album, "A Love Supreme," is undermined by sloppy prose and lack of focus. Kahn does a great job showing just how powerful the album has been for generations of listeners, from Wayne Shorter to Bono. The biographical material on Coltrane is very good, but profoundly impersonal, skipping over key aspects of his life. The best part of the book is his meticulous documentation of the December 9 & 10, 1964 sessions that resulted in this album. Kahn describes the music with vivid language, and includes details about where Elvin Jones' drums were placed and how Rudy Van Gelder lit the studio to create a Jazz Club atmosphere for the performers. After that, Kahn's book loses focus. It's as if he had a 100 page manuscript, but then the folks at Penguin asked him to make it 250, and he had scratch around for any extra material he could find. His assessment of Coltrane's career post-"A Love Supreme" is very tepid, and the chapter on the legacy of the recording, especially from the vantagepoint of JOWCOL publishing, shows promise, but ultimately goes nowhere. Kahn's major problem here is that he doesn't know who his audience is. Is it for die-hard Trane-iacs, or is it for the casual listener that has "A Love Supreme" and no other Coltrane album? Some of this might not be Kahn's fault, as the content suggests this is for experts, but the formating of the book, with its wide margins and coffee-table book size, make it seem as if it's simply for show and tell in some bourgeois apartment. The book could have been better organized, more historically contextual, and filled with glossaries and footnotes for the more casual fans. Also, Kahn's lack of historical grounding makes it seem as though "A Love Supreme" was the only album released in 1965, and that jazz was the most popular music at that time, which is far from the case (just as it is today). Here, his homage to this wonderful album bleeds over into the realm of adulation. If this was a book for the "experts," it would be more critical of the album, instead of an all-out gush-fest. But Kahn's research must be commended (especially since he seems to be responsible for getting the December 10th performance of "Acknowledgment," with Davis and Shepp as added musicians, unearthed and onto the Deluxe Edition reissue of "A Love Supreme).
This book is really good!.......2005-03-31
Ashley Khan did a great job. I first picked up Coltrane's A Love Supreme, in the early 90's while a teenager, in a used section of a Parisian jazz record store, at that time i was only basicly educated about music and jazz. When i first played that album i was spiritualy moved and fell in love with it. I had no idea then of the importance of that record in Coltrane's career or in jazz in general, but the music touched my soul, and took me on a journey, which have been my (still young) life's journey and spiritual quest.
For the past 10 years i have been playing that record before evey major key events of my life... as a way to pray and meditate... i had no idea this album have been such a spiritual listening experience for other people before i started learning more about Coltrane and music. For this, Kahn's book is a very good illustration of the importance of that particular record. It is well written, have beautifull pictures and some precious informations. It contains basic elements about Coltrane's life, but reading Colrane's bio can remain a necessity. The making of a love supreme is a must read. Peace.
Loved it.......2004-02-20
Great music for those who love traditional jazz. Coltrane shows off his dexterity with the sax throughout this entire record.
Product Description
Interesting facets of Coltrane's playing are presented along with eight transcriptions of his solos as recorded on the Blue Note albums WHIMS OF CHAMBERS and BLUE TRAIN. Titles are: Blue Train Nita Just for the Love We Six Omicron Moment's Notice Locomotion Lazy Bird.
Customer Reviews:
good taste of Trane..........2007-04-17
a very good intro to John Coltrane and his life. Short on details and extensive background but good quotes from peers and studio musicians he played with. His uncanny drive to practice and to play his sax the way he wanted to play it is captured here. All in all a very good book but there seems to be alot missing here.
Not Bad, Kind of Cheesy in Places.......2007-03-04
JC Thomas mixes facts with imaginative accounts of Coltrane's life, for example, he writes about a practice session or two as if he is sitting and watching. It's really a tad corny, but you do get a lot of facts. Not enough attention to the Miles Davis Quintet years. I think you can do better. There was a time when this was the only biography available and we had to settle for this.
awesome rock bio.......2002-09-27
This book is excellent all around, giving good background on John Coltrane's life, discussions of many of his albums, quotes from people who either played with Coltrane or were otherwise part of his life. There's a good discography, although so much new material has been issued since the book has come out, it's become rather patchy and dated. Thomas is a good writer (terrific for a music writer) but sometimes gets way off on tangents. That's my only criticism. But you get a good sense of the man, his music, his influence on other musicians, and his place in history. You can't ask for much more than that in a rock bio.
A basic primer.......2001-10-18
Think of this as the cliff notes edition of the life of John Coltrane. An alternate title could be "I Remember Trane." The book moves quickly over the first part of his life and concentrates mostly on his recording years. The early struggling years that were characterized by drugs is glossed over and pretty much picks up in ernest with his quiting in 1957. The best parts of this easy to read book are the lines attributed to his friends or those that knew him. The insights are clearly evident throughout the book as it is filled with little known tid bits as shared by people who crossed paths with the man. It seems everyone had an opinion or crossed paths with Trane. There are studio recollections, club dates, both on and off stage memories, diary excerpts but most of all reflections on the part of fellow musicians. Some of the encounters are remarkeable, like the time Gato Barbieri, the Argentine saxophonist, met him backstage in Europe and saw the sax case he had sent Coltrane. Coltrane exclaimed "you're from Argentina" and was unaware that Gato was the man who had sent the monographed leather case. The personal recollections make this a memorable book and a quick reference point for further and more detailed reading. The pictures are minimal but historically worthy. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in Coltrane and would like to get some quick and easy insights into the legendary sax great. This is Coltrane 1A, there is ample room for further knowledge, beginning with his music.
best biography ever.......2001-06-29
This biography of John Coltrane is the best book ever written about someone. This book gives you information about his childhood, his teen years, his life on the road when he was performing with various bands, and this book gives you 2-20 line paragraphs written by John's friends or people who new him very well. This book is a must if you are a musician and wondering about jazz history, or if you are a Coltrane fan. Buy it today.
Book Description
You may be surprised
at the tricky music
a box,
a snowflake,
some raindrops,
and a kitten
can make.
Right before your eyes.
And on the pages
of this book.
There is someone
backstage
watching, encouraging
our performers
but keeping them
under control.
Why not
listen along?
Customer Reviews:
Ambitious, Interesting, and Imaginative, but Perhaps Best for Adults or Kids Guided by Them.......2006-07-25
Chris Raschka is one of our most ambitious children's book illustrators. When he's good, he's great, and he wins the Caldecott Award for best children's illustration. When he tries too hard, he's sly but opaque, clever but obscure. "Waffle," for example, plays with concept at the expense of clarity, and the result is a disappointing mish-mosh. This book is on the heady side, but musically-inclined youngsters guided by a talented teacher, parent, or other adult will enjoy's Raschka's imaginative deconstruction/reconstruction of Coltrane's magnificent jazz piece.
Raschka almost nails it with this visual and verbal description of saxophonist John Coltrane's incredible "Giant Steps," a landmark number of dizzying complexity, speed, and joy that most energetic younsters would like on its own. However, much of the appeal lies in a very intellectual exercise requiring levels of abstract thinking and reading ability beyond most of the young audience who will be attracted to the picture book format. However, teenagers, pre-adolescents with a musical bent, and adults will appreciate Raschka sensitive evaluation of Coltrane's talent. Younger kids might like the colorful (although not vividly colorful) pictures, and the pictures of the raindrops, snowflake, and cat. However, these by themselves are not that appealing, and the song's "narration" is clever but not a very interesting story. That is why the book doesn't quite work for early elementary school-age kids reading it on their own.
The most fascinating aspect of Raschka's "Giant Steps" is that he purposely draws the song all wrong! The book disappoints, and then tricks us, because Raschka knows exactly what he was doing. The cat narrator leads the shapes and colors in a visual performance of Coltrane's number, but the impression is, well, unimpressive. Even for a metaphor of Coltrane's music, the colors look blurry and the composition are unfocused.
However, at a break in the performance (on pages 24 and 25), Raschka gently tells us that the preceeding images (by Raschka) were not quite right, were not Coltrane. The "performers" (and the reader) must understand that Coltrane was strong, yes, but "strong yet light." The colors should be rich, not "muddy," because "Coltrane's music is dense but transparent." And while Coltrane did blow "a fountain of notes, a shower of notes...those notes made lines that were dynamic and strong and vivid." In a remarkable performace of his own,. Raschka redraws the musical sequence to reflect these attributes, and this time he captures the rhythms, sounds, and energetic clarity of Coltrane. It's a masterful achievement, but I don't know how many kids will appreciate it. A dazzling, albeit puzzling, work that stands, as Ellington once said, "beyond category."
John Coltrane's Giant Steps is a Good Book!.......2005-11-28
We really liked reading John Coltrane's Giant Steps. We want to read it again and again. The pictures look very cool. We like the way that the illustrator created all the shapes like the box, the snowflake, and the raindrops. We also like the words that the author uses to describe the music.
Our favorite part was when the director tells the shapes and the kitten what they did wrong. Listening to the music really helped us understand the book. Some of us wish that the author had given us the cd with the book. Others of us think it was great the way it was!
Chris Raschka writes good books!
Small Steps..........2005-07-22
Chris Raschka has to be one of my favorite illustrators. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, Yo! Yes?, a Caldecott Honoree, and Arlene Sardine are some of my favorite picture books of all time. But when I picked up John Coltrane's Giant Steps, things changed. Yes, Giant Steps is creative. Yes, it's gutsy. But on paper, 'Steps' falls flat on it's artsy face.
The first pages of Giant Steps introduce us to 'a box, a snowflake, some raindrops, and a kitten', our performers. We are then told (while the 'performers are limbering up') about the Giant Steps' composer, a man by the name of John Coltrane. Afterwards the box, the snowflake, the raindrops, and the kitten begin their strange dance, blending their differing colors in 'harmony'. The performers carry on with their dance, by now leaving the young readers either confused or annoyed. Then the dance suddenly stops, and the narrorator corrects our dancers on their various mistakes. And then the dance begins again! *Sighs*
I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say that ninety-nine percent of children will not enjoy this book. The one percent (if that many) that will, have already heard of John Coltrane and his Giant Steps. The other ninety-nine, like I said before, will probably hate it, like I, myself did. Even Chris Raschka's paintings do little to distract the viewer from this terrible book! I'll admit that Giant Steps had a beautiful and creative premise, but it sadly falls into the cliche of 'Just because it sounds good, doesn't mean it'll look good on paper!'
R, your friendly neighborhood reviewer.
Don't play no game. Just play me John Coltrane........2005-05-17
When you review a picture book you have a responsibility to two kinds of consumers: The parents who buy the books and the children who read them. Now when I was a kid you probably could've handed me junky handwritten papers illustrated in crayon and I would've loved them. Children know what they do and do not like and it is the responsibility of their parents to choose well-written worthwhile books that will stand the test of time for their youngsters' brains. However, at the same time you don't want to be the kind of parent who only gets books for your kids that are "good' for them. I see these kinds of adults all the time. Unfortunate children are dragged to my library and forced to read books like "Gulliver's Travels" and "Treasure Island" which, while good, aren't the kinds of books that reluctant readers are instantly going to gravitate towards. The same goes for picture books. Sometimes I'll recommend a picture book that children may initially find dull or confusing simply because it's either a work of art or so well-written that I'm sure the children will grow to love it. Which brings me, in a definitely roundabout way, to "John Coltrane's Giant Steps". This is a book that undoubtedly seemed like a good idea when it was thought up. I mean, what could be cooler? You take a John Coltrane song and then using artist Chris Raschka's remarkable watercolor and inks show the song as a visual piece of work. The idea is sublime. The result is deathly dull and confusing for kids.
If you are not familiar with "Giant Steps" the song, you may wish to listen to it as you read this book. The book begins with the words, "Good evening. And thank you for coming to our book. We have something very special for you tonight. It's John Coltrane's marvelous and tricky composition `Giant Steps,' performed for you by a box, a snowflake, some raindrops, and a kitten. Why not stay and see it?". Why not indeed. The song begins well enough. The raindrops (featured as all blue or while within blue) provide the tempo. The box is the "foundation" or bottom. The snowflake is the harmony. Finally, the kitten is the melody. The song proceeds nicely enough until it collapses into a seething pile of confusion. The narrator chastises each element and corrects them (using a red colored pencil to circle faults and flaws). Helpful comments include lines like, "I know you're our foundation and you've got to be strong. But can you be strong yet light?". They try again with far better results and the book ends on a high (ha ha) note.
I think I've figured out why the book doesn't work. It isn't just that Raschka has failed to include a cd of the song (a necessity). This is simply a book that has to be read with a cd that speaks to the reader and stops and starts the music perfectly with the book. Otherwise, there's no point in playing the song with this book when the text halts midway through to make corrections. Now I love Raschka's style, don't get me wrong. But the book would still be interesting to children if he'd gone so far as to make the kitten a little more realistic and a little less expressionistic.
In a way, I feel that Chris Raschka just strove a little too hard. This book's a work of art, no question. But it's just not interesting to kids. I'm not saying the right kind of dedicated parent couldn't MAKE their kids interested in it. But this isn't the kind of picture book I see the kiddies pulling down off of the shelf to take home. Mostly, this is a book appreciated by adults who want their children to like jazz. Good luck with that. There are plenty of great jazz-based picture books out there, you know. "Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuoso", by Andrea Davis Pinkney is a fine example. But this is a picture book that will be loved by children over the age of 12. Just bear that in mind should you purchase it.
Clever, cute and consummately Coltrane.......2005-05-03
I love this book because you can "hear" Chris Raschka's enthusiasm to share the extraordinary sound of Coltrane with readers. You need not ever have heard of Coltrane before but once you read this book to a child you'll want to hear exactly what the artist himself described as "sheets of sound." Raschka's watercolor illustrations are a metaphor for the layers of harmonies and rhythms of music. I loved the little quips that are delightful plays on words like: "remixed by Chris Raschka" and a conductor's reprisal: "First of all, raindrops, you were rushing on page 19".
Clever, cute and Coltrane.
Average customer rating:
|
John Coltrane Plays Giant Steps
David Demsey
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0793563453 |
Product Description
Complete transcriptions of every recorded solo (nine takes) by jazz master John Coltrane on his legendary composition "Giant Steps" - 96 choruses in all! Includes analysis of the tune and solos, historical background, and previously unpublished photos from the period. This book is an invaluable collector's item, as well as an important practice and learning tool.
Customer Reviews:
Giant Steps galore.......2006-04-05
Basically, this book contains transcriptions of every chorus for the tune "Giant Steps" that Coltrane recorded at the March 26 and May 5, 1959 recording sessions. All in all, 9 different takes including the original master.
The transcriptions are presented in a very readable way: 4 measures to each line throughout, plus some other notation devices. I can't really comment much on the accuracy as I haven't played through any of the transcriptions yet, but on first glance they seem very meticuously done.
Be aware that all music is notated for Bb tenor saxophone, which means that many players of other instruments will have to transpose the music.
The introduction to the book contain historical notes on Coltrane and Giant Steps, plus an analysis of the tune in terms of harmony, form and pitch selection.
Product Description
This comprehensive collection includes more than 100 of this jazz master's best work and includes a biography and discogrophy making this a perfect souvenir folio. 26-2 4 Am (Part V O Suite) Acknowledgement (Part I) Affirmation (Part IV of Prayer and Meditation Suite) Africa After The Crescent After The Rain Alabama Amen Ascension (Coltrane) Ascent Attaining Bessie's Blues Big Nick Black Pearls Blue Train (Blue Trane) Blues Minor Blues To Bechet Blues To Elvin Blues To You Brazilia (Coltrane J) Central Park West Chasin' The Trane Compassion Consequences Cosmos Countdown Cousin Mary Crescent Dahomey Dance Day (Part 1 Of Suite) Dear Lord Dearly Beloved Drum Thing, The Dusk-Dawn Equinox Evening (Part Iii Of Suite) Evolution Exotica Expression Father & Son & Holy Ghost Fifth House Giant Steps Grand Central Greensleeves Harmonique Impressions India Jupiter (The Planets) Holst G Just For The Love Lazy Bird Leo Liberia Like Sonny (Simple Like) Living Space Locomotion Lonnie's Lament Love (Coltrane J) Manifestation Mars Miles' Mode ( The Red Planet) Moment's Notice Mr. Day (One And Four) Mr. Knight Mr. P.C. Mr. Syms Naima (Niema) Nita Offering (Coltrane J) Ogunde Ole Peace & After (Part Ii Of Suite) Peace On Earth Pristine Promise Psalm (Part...
Customer Reviews:
A Great Coltrane "Fake Book.".......2007-08-01
This review is partially a response to an earlier review. A few things need to be clarified:
1. This is a book of COMPOSITIONS, not solo transcriptions. As such, it only contains the melodies and chord changes of Trane's great compositions.
2. The book is in concert pitch, which makes sense because these tunes can be (and should be) studied and played by players of all instruments (not to mention singers), not just tenor saxophonists.
So what you get here is basically a "fake book" containing ONLY Coltrane's tunes. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to play these tunes in a group setting, or arrange them for an ensemble.
I use this book all the time, in both my playing and my teaching. If you're a serious student of jazz, you should get this book.
A Great Collection of Coltrane tunes.......2001-01-11
I have owned this book for four or five years and for my money it is one of the best collections of Coltrane compositions around. It is all in concert pitch, which is what you want if you need to give a lead chart to the rhythm section to accompany you. It may be better to learn the tune off the recording if you can, but you can't expect the rhythm section to necessarily have memorised the same tunes as you.
The book features lead sheets for many late Coltrane tunes that are difficult to find and/or transcribe such as Leo, Venus, Mars, Sun Ship, To Be, Jupiter, Living Space, Peace on Earth etc. It also features annotatations by Alice Coltrane with suggested chords for some of those tunes (she played piano on many of those recordings). Many other types of tunes are covered including those recorded with Cannonball and one from an album with Paul Chambers. Almost all the tunes from that great Atlantic album 'Coltrane Plays the Blues' are included. Another feature of the book is the inclusion of the heads for three major suites of Coltrane's, 'A Love Supreme', 'Meditations' and 'Prayer and Meditation'(from Transition).
There is a great discography at the back of the book that tells you on which album every tune was recorded with label details and the release date to give you a feel for where the tune comes chronologically in Coltrane's career.
I have a couple gripes about the book. 'Syeeda's Flute Song' (great tune off of 'Giant Steps') is not included and the chord changes for 'Satellite' are incorrect. The bass notes are right and there was no piano but you should be able to hear the Coltrane changes from the tenor solo. Anyway, the correct changes are available in the Aebersold playalong, 'Countdown to Giant Steps' if you can't work them out. These complaints are only very minor if you look at the book as a whole however.
If you primarily want the improvised solos, you can order them from Andrew White. On the other hand, most jazz text books I have studied recommend trying to transcribe them yourself. This book does include however, sections of tunes which include improvisation as part of the head (such as the intro to 'Crescent'). These sections are transcribed from the original recording.
If you would like to play and solo yourself over a wide range of Coltrane's repertoire than this is the book for you.
Don't be Duped!.......2000-01-27
While this book is an excellent collection of John Coltrane's compositions, I would not recommend buying it. For one thing, all of the music in the book has been transcribed from B flat (the key of tenor sax) to C. So, unless you like to instantaneously transcribe music as you play along, or unless you just want to peck things out on a piano, this book is probably not for you. Another disappointment is that the songs don't include any of Coltrane's solos-- they merely give you the basic, introductory tune of the song, with some chord charts and repeat bars thrown in. Needless to say, I'm returning the book.
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