John Coltrane: His Life and Music (The Michigan American Music Series) | 
| Author: Lewis Porter
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 76442
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Pbk. Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 047208643X
Dewey Decimal Number: 788.7165092
EAN: 9780472086436
ASIN: 047208643X
Publication Date: January 28, 2000
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Product Description
John Coltrane was a key figure in jazz, a pioneer in world music, and an intensely emotional force whose following continues to grow. This new biography, the first by a professional jazz scholar and performer, presents a huge amount of never-before-published material, including interviews with Coltrane, photos, genealogical documents, and innovative musical analysis that offers a fresh view of Coltrane's genius.
Compiled from scratch with the assistance of dozens of Coltrane's colleagues, friends, and family, John Coltrane: His Life and Music corrects numerous errors from previous biographies. The significant people in Coltrane's life were reinterviewed, yielding new insights; some were interviewed for the first time ever.
The musical analysis, which is accessible to the nonspecialist, makes its own revelations--for example, that some of Coltrane's well-known pieces are based on previously unrecognized sources. The Appendix is the most detailed chronology of Coltrane's performing career ever compiled, listing scores of previously unknown performances from the 1940s and early 1950s.
Coltrane has become a musical inspiration for thousands of fans and musicians and a personal inspiration to as many more. For all of these, Porter's book will become the definitive resource--a reliable guide to the events of Coltrane's life and an insightful look into his musical practices.
". . . well researched, musically knowledgeable, and enormously interesting to read. Porter is a jazz scholar with deep knowledge of the tradition he is studying, both conceptually and technically." --Richard Crawford, University of Michigan
"Lewis Porter is a meticulous person with love and respect for Afro-American classical music. I applaud this definitive study of my friend John Coltrane's life adn achievements." --Jimmy Heath, jazz saxophonist, composer, educator
Lewis Porter is Associate Professor of Music, Rutgers University in Newark. A leading jazz scholar, he is the author of Jazz Readings from a Century of Change and coauthor of Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present. He was a project consultant on The Complete Atlantic Recordings of John Coltrane, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Historical Reissue, and an editor and assisting author of the definitive Coltrane discography by Y. Fujioka.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 THE Coltrane Biography March 24, 2008
An excellent book that includes thorough analysis and scores from Trane's solos (imagine that, a book about a musician that actually focuses on the guy's music). Chasin' the Trane was full of trite, silly speculation in some places and clearly was not written by someone with a working knowledge of music. THIS book deals with many facts about Trane's music. Porter carefully breaks down Coltrane's "methodology" and shows how, even though the aesthetic of the music changed drastically after 1965, he was actually adhering to the pentatonic scales in thirds approach (albeit without steady rhythm and harmonic anchors). Include many transcripts of pieces ranging from Fifth House (early) to Venus (late). If you are a musician who wants a serious study of Coltrane then THIS is the book to buy.
 What a Yawner March 10, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's unfortunate for John Coltrane that such a poor writer decided to take up the pen to sketch out his life. The writing of Lewis Porter is incredibly stilted, weak, and generally poor. There is absolutely no style to his treatment and the detailing of Coltrane's life is thin at best. While the book appears to have the guise of a linear arc, it meanders, it flails, it fails.
One walks away wondering who John Coltrane was. The cursory attention given to the personal details of his life, especially his later life, is unforgivable. Yeah, he liked sweets, so what? We are given hardly any personal details of his life in the 60's when his fame was at its height. At one point Porter casually mentions a Sheila Coltrane, who apparently was an illegitimate child of John's, and then drops it. I mean, really? He couldn't do a little more research and fill the reader in? Towards the end of his narrative Porter scores the ultimate cheap trick and gives the reader a chapter containing only quotes by other people about Coltrane--I mean who does this? I'll tell you who--A lazy biographer who's looking for filler, and can't be bothered to do what legitimate biographers do and weave the quotes into the text.
The real meat of the book is in the analysis of the music. Porter devotes countless pages to breaking down minute details of Coltrane's music, producing sheet music, charts, and yawns...
I'm sure Porter's scrutiny of the music will appeal to some serious music fans, but don't buy this book if you are interested in learning alot about John Coltrane.
The details say 448 pages, but the actual text is only 300 pages with the rest devoted to bibliography, notes, a timeline of his shows (???), and an index.
 Coltrane: His Music August 17, 2007
To fully appreciate this book the reader should certainly be able to read music. There are a multitude of scores that the reader should understand to be able to get the most out of this book. However even if you can't read music (As I can't) there is a lot to interest one in this book. Coltrane came from the Rocky Mount Section of NC. It seems ike he had an interesting, stable Family Life, though the Father does not seemed to have lived with him. Moved to Philly after High School, where he did Graduate. He was in the Service in the Mid 40s, and surprisingly was in an integrated Navy Band. I thought the services were segregated at that time.
There are also details of his two marriages.
If you can read music or at least understand scoring this book is highly recommended. If you are like me you will still probably enjoy it.
The first serious study of John Coltrane November 28, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Porter's biography is a detailed exploration of Coltrane's musical development, consisting of extensive analyses of selected examples of Coltrane's music, together with what reads like a patchwork of biographical details (much of which is newly researched and not included in other Coltrane biographies). The latter dimension of the work was apparently an afterthought which Porter started working on in 1994 after having spent the previous fourteen years working on the musical analysis (he indicates this in his preface to the book). The analysis of the music is challenging and would probably be inaccessible for someone who does not have some knowledge of music theory.
The biographical portion of the book seems to be well researched and explores parts of Coltrane's life which his other biographies have not delved into (although Porter does rely significantly on two previous biographies - one by J.C. Thomas, the other by C.O. Simpkins, to flesh out his own research). The first chapter, titled "Southern Roots," is an exploration of Coltrane's familial roots and the origins of the Coltrane name. A family geneology, photos of family marriage licenses, the 1920 census of High Point, North Carolina (where Coltrane grew up) and even Coltrane's birth certificate are included. The author then explores Coltrane's childhood through stories recounted by family members and friends who knew Coltrane as a boy. Included in this section is a remarkable photo of Coltrane's grade 3 class, in which the young Coltrane already has a look of concentrated seriousness.
Porter then goes into a lengthy exploration of Coltrane's early musical development through a discussion of Coltrane's encounters with books and teachings the saxophonist used to develop his obviously vast musical knowledge. This section, which dominates the first third of the book, is highlighted by interviews with other musicians, particularly Jimmy Heath, who knew Coltrane during his musically formative years, and by Porter's insights into some of the sources of Coltrane's playing. This section is definitely one of the strengths of the book.
During the second third, Porter makes the usual stops, touching on Coltrane's substance abuse, his membership in the Miles Davis Quintet and his apprenticeship with Thelonious Monk.
The final third of the book begins with Coltrane's final split with Davis and ends at the present time with an examination of the saxophonist's influence on contemporary music. In between, the formation and eventual dissolution of Coltrane's classic quartet is outlined. Within this last third is Porter's most intense analysis of Coltrane's music, highlighted by a very detailed exploration of one of the peaks of his art, "A Love Supreme."
Another chapter, called "The Man:'A Quiet, Shy Guy,'" in the final section presents quotes and interviews drawn from a variety of sources about aspects of Coltrane's personality along with his views on philosophy, religion, race and politics. This chapter, although useful, is somewhat awkward and might better have been integrated into the other chapters. As it is, it highlights one of the problems with Porter's book - it tries to be too many things and does not integrate them into an organic whole.
A particularly valuable part of the book is a forty page chronology which documents all of Coltrane's known performances and interviews. This section alone, might make the book worth purchasing for some readers.
In summary, if you are looking for an analysis of Coltrane's music, this is the place to look. If it's the biography you are interested in, this book cannot be ignored because it presents details not mentioned elsewhere but it still falls short. Porter's writing is dry and academic, which is useful for presenting the facts of an artist's life or for analysing his work, but it fails to evoke a sense of the man and the world he lived in. For that, a writer with a warmer, more imaginative style is needed.
The definitive Coltrane biography still remains to be written, but Porter's book is worth holding onto in the meantime.
The ultimate Coltrane bio July 1, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a nearly perfect biography in every way. It is comprehensive, objective, and written with a good understanding and appreciation of Coltrane's music. The tone is scholarly without being too dry -- a difficult balance to achieve.
The book is fairly long, providing in-depth coverage of Coltrane's life and music from his early development through his controversial late work. There is a good balance between discussion of his musical and personal development. There are lots of quotes included from people who knew him and worked with him.
For non-musicians, the theory and analysis may be intimidating and un-necessary. For musicians, it is good reading, but non-musicians may not understand some parts that deal strictly with music theory. I don't really think there is any way to explain the significane of Contrane's music in any depth without going into this type of explanation, so I cannot count this as criticism. How can one explain the significance of Giant Steps, for example, without describing the innovative harmonic movement by thirds? How can you give a good discussion of Interstellar Space without analyzing specific examples of motivic development? For non-jazz musicians or non-musicians, these parts can probably be skipped when they go over their heads without significant loss to the value of the book, but perhaps they should at least skim through them to get an idea of why Coltrane is such an important figure in jazz history.
There is adequate criticism and praise for Coltrane's music from many different, reliable sources included throughout. For example, McCoy Tyner's displeasure with the direction Coltrane took with his groups in the mid-60's is included, along with quotes from people who loved playing with him at that time.
Overall, this biography is objective, comprehensive, and enlightening to anyone interested in jazz or in the development of a remarkable talent in general. Very much recommended.
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