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Article: JOHN COLTRANE: 20 YEARS AFTER
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- March 12, 1987
CopyrightCopyright 1987 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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This tenor saxophonist, who died 20 years ago at age 40, was
responsible for a radical approach to his instrument and harmonic
structure. Coltrane's intense and complex playing challenged both
him and his listeners. The phrase "sheets of sound" was used to
describe the cascades of notes that seemed to pour out of his horn.
Coltrane was influenced by musicians as Coleman Hawkins,
Charlie Parker, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges and he learned much
from pianist-composer Thelonious Monk.
Born in Hamlet, N.C., he first played the clarinet but later
switched to alto saxophone. In Philadelphia, he won a scholarship
to the Granoff Studios. He played in cocktail lounges in 1945,
entered the ...