JAM: DECEMBER 2007/JANUARY 2008 Issue: Feature Story

COLTRANE:
THE STORY OF A SOUND

Ben Ratliff
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 250 pages, $24.00

Ben Ratliff, New York Times jazz critic, takes a unique approach to the newest biography of John Coltrane and it truly packs a wallop. Coltrane: The Story of a Sound is really two books in one.

The first is a brief but thorough review of musical evolution of Coltrane from his early career as a less successful bebop saxophonist, to being a notable apprentice with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, to the achievement of legendary status with the classic Coltrane Quartet of the 1960s, and following into his final role as the trailblazer of free-jazz.

The second part of the book examines Coltrane's legacy. Ratliff examines what made Trane not only a major figure in jazz history but what has transformed him into what may be one of the most revered jazz artists, ranking up there with the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. Ratliff pulls from interviews with Coltrane peers and younger musicians throughout his investigation to make his case that while Coltrane's influence remains strong it is no longer as pervasive as it was a generation ago, when his contemporaries were stuck in his shadow.

An interesting point that Ratliff repeatedly comes back to is that for all of Coltrane's fame as an individual visionary his accomplishments were primarily achieved while within a working band. Trane always had a group of highly talented musicians by his side playing an essential role while pounding out the kinks in his sound.

Overall, aside from the history of the man and his music, the aspect that drew me in more than anything else was its non-technical verbiage. I am not a musician but a music-lover. I can pick out bebop from free-jazz and pick up half-time and 4/4 but start throwing in terms like diminished triads and polytonality and I suddently wouldn't be able to find my way out of a brown paper bag. Ratliff's book is a quick, easy and enjoyable read. You'll learn a lot about jazz, not just about John Coltrane but about that era of jazz and the music itself without getting lost in a lot of technical music jargon. I recommend that you pick it up for yourself or for one of your loved ones; it's available now.

—Tristan Smith