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Article: Traning the nineties, or the present relevance of John Coltrane's music of theophany and negation.
- Article from:
- African American Review
- Article date:
- June 22, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 African American Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Can it be merely accidental that recent works by such otherwise dissimilar film makers as Spike Lee and Oliver Stone feature striking allusions to - and, indeed, appropriations of - the music of John Coltrane? The burden of this essay is to demonstrate that this phenomenon should not - must not - be regarded as a mere accident, or lucky coincidence. Rather, I shall insist that the renewed interest in Coltrane's legacy signaled by these films stems largely from concerns immanent to his work, and that these simultaneously social and aesthetic concerns have particular and special relevance for contemporary issues of American, and indeed worldwide, culture.(1) Beginning with a ...