Help me understand John Coltrane .... seriously.

 If a tune isn't grabbing your attention emotionally, without questioning  "why" you  should Ilike it...
it isn't for you.

Well, that's true, don't buy / listen to what you don't like, but it is also true in art that the temporal and historical context a piece was written in and responding to is the language.


You might see a Picasso and think nothing of it, but if you study art history and see the discussion happening in art suddenly Picasso makes sense as a response.
Leaving art and music to personal taste in the moment may leave you impoverished.

“You might see a Picasso and think nothing of it, but if you study art history and see the discussion happening in art suddenly Picasso makes sense as a response.
Leaving art and music to personal taste in the moment may leave you impoverished.”

super-sage advice, Erik. I was lucky enough, I guess, to not have to “get” Coltrane, I just like his stuff. Certainly, he was one to push boundaries in his career. What are the tracks that puzzle you about him?

Dave

Yes. A Love Supreme
And Donald Byrd Cristo Redentor.

What are the tracks that puzzle you about him?

Almost all of it. I mean, of course I can listen to My Favorite Things, but it doesn't sound remarkable.... and the rest, I have a really tough time resonating with. A love supreme is honestly difficult for me.


So it's clear to me I am listening to him completely out of context and without an appreciation for what he brings extra to standards like My Favorite Things.

This thread is of course not to mock him, at all, but to try and hear enough of his world to hear him like others do.
Best,
E