Kosmik Radiation Radio - Sep 23, 2011 Playlist

John Coltrane's 85th Birthday

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
John Coltrane "Meditations" 1965 (USA)

Today would have been John Coltrane's 85th birthday, so this week we're saluting one of the most important figures from the world of jazz. Coltrane first rose to fame when Miles Davis tapped him to play sax in his group around 1955, and by 1960 he had left Miles to lead his own groups exclusively until his untimely death in 1967. As an instrumentalist, Coltrane's modal "sheets of sound" style made him the most influential saxophonist since the revolutionary Charlie Parker. As a composer, his impact is equally great though harder to explain quickly. In the late 1950's he developed a system of modulating tonalities (the "Coltrane changes") which greatly influenced the jazz world, but it was after he began to explore "free" jazz starting around 1964 that Coltrane became a truly radical figure whose influence transcended jazz. Coltrane's free jazz was not rooted in avant-garde "art music", but rather was driven by his own personal spiritual quest. As such it has some similarity to the "space ritual" of Sun Ra and his Arkestra, though without creating his own new mythology. For Coltrane was intrigued by ALL world religions -- his late period works were usually given titles relating to Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim concepts (in recent years he has even been canonized as a saint by the African Orthodox Church). Meditations is one of Trane's most radically "free" recordings, featuring an expanded group with two drummers and Pharoah Sanders joining Coltrane as a second horn player. His other notable epic works from this era include the classic A Love Supreme, the big band freakout Ascension, and an oriental acid trip called Om. After John's death, his widow Alice Coltrane (who played piano in her husband's band) continued and expanded on this concept of "music as a spiritual quest."
Here's Coltrane and his classic quartet playing the opening section of "A Love Supreme", and a 1965 version of their earlier hit "My Favorite Things"which shows the freer direction Trane was going in by that time (and the band is playing so hard they are literally giving off steam!) Coltrane was a significant influence on 1960's rock as well, as demonstrated by The Byrds hit "Eight Miles High" (with Roger McGuinn playing Coltrane-like leads on 12-string guitar), and The Doors breakthrough "Light My Fire" (which includes a lengthy modal jam which was probably inspired by the Coltrane version of "My Favorite Things").

(N) = New Release

Artist	Song	Album	Year (label)	Country
Traffic	Utterly Simple	Mr. Fantasy	1968	UK
A Tribe Called Quest	Bonita Applebum	People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm	1990	USA
Genesis	I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)	Selling England By The Pound	1973	UK
Mighty Baby	Egyptian Tomb	Mighty Baby	1970	UK
Kalacakra	Raga No. 1	Crawling To Lhasa	1972	Germany

GLÕW	With You Without	Sessions (N)	2011 (provided by artist)	UK
White Hills	We Will Rise	White Hills (N)	2010 (Thrill Jockey)	USA
Jackie-O Motherfucker	Raga Joining	Earth Sound System (N)	2011 (Fire)	USA
Grails	I Led Three Lives	Deep Politics (N)	2011 (Temporary Residence)	USA

Annapurna Illusion	Dizzy Vultures	Life Is An Illusion (N)	2011 (Rocket)	France
Residual Echoes	MFIGBSP Ride	MFIGBSP	2005	USA
The Stooges	Fun House	Fun House	1970	USA

The Byrds	Eight Miles High	Fifth Dimension	1966	USA
MC5	Looking At You	A-side 7" single	1968	USA
The Doors	Light My Fire	The Doors	1967	USA
Jefferson Airplane	rejoyce	After Bathing At Baxter's	1967	USA

John Coltrane	The Father The Son And The Holy Ghost / Compassion	Meditations CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1965	USA
John Coltrane	The Night Has A Thousand Eyes	Coltrane's Sound	rec. 1960, rel. 1964	USA

Miles Davis (with John Coltrane)	All Blues	Kind Of Blue	1959	USA
Archie Shepp	Cousin Mary (John Coltrane)	Four For Trane	1964	USA
Eric Dolphy	Gazzelloni	Out To Lunch	1964	USA