On alto, Bird had been my whole influence, but on tenor I found there was no one man whose ideas were so dominant as Charlie’s were on alto. Therefore, I drew from all the men I heard during this period. I have listened to about all the good tenor men, beginning with Lester [Young], and believe me, I’ve picked up something from them all… The reason I liked Lester so was that I could feel that line, that simplicity…” (on his early influences.)
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The previous video inspired me to post something that features Wynton Kelly a little more. In this piece, “Walkin”, Coltrane takes more of a backseat role and pianist Kelly and bassist Paul Chambers plays a bigger role. Kelly plays with great precision and is just overall a very expressive player. Please enjoy.
John Coltrane - Tenor Saxophone
Wynton Kelly - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Jimmy Cobb - Drums
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John Coltrane with “On Green Dolphin Street”, one of my favorite pieces by him! Playing the piano is Jamaican Wynton Kelly, most famous for his work with Miles Davis. I really love his intro to this piece!
John Coltrane - Tenor Saxophone
Wynton Kelly - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Jimmy Cobb - Drums
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I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.
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A very lively “Bahia” as performed by John Coltrane. The percussion section in the beginning almost makes me want to dance the salsa….
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Lush Life by John Coltrane.
Album: Lush Life (1957)
John Coltrane: Tenor saxophone
Donald Byrd: Trumpet for track 4
Red Garland: Piano for tracks 4-5
Earl May: Bass for tracks 1-3
Paul Chambers: Bass for tracks 4-5
Art Taylor: Drums for tracks 1-3
Louis Hayes: Drums for track 4
Albert Heath: Drums for track 5
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Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before. Being so inescapably a part of it, I’ll never know what the listener gets, what the listener feels, and that’s too bad.
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John Coltrane’s take on “Nature Boy”, another pop and jazz standard. It was written by Eden Ahbez and published in 1947. The song tells the story of a “strange, enchanted boy” who wandered to many places only to find that “the greatest thing of all….was to loved and be loved in return”. The song has a haunting quality, even without the slightly eerie lyrics.
The song was also used in many films, one of them being Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman’s “Moulin Rouge”, pretty entertaining film even though it is kind of the typical sappy love story. Kidman garnered an academy nomination for her role as Satine.
Likewise the song was performed by many notable people, one of whom made the song a hit, this person is none other than Nat King Cole (is it finally dawning on you how much I love the man and his incredible voice yet? Seeing as to how he pops up so often in my posts should give you a hint, he will definitely be one of the artists I am covering so stay tuned!).
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