Coltrane on Coltrane: The John Coltrane Interviews »

Chris DeVito, a freelance writer and copy editor, is the lead author of The John Coltrane Reference, named the BBC’s jazz book of the year in 2008.

John Coltrane grew up “under the spell,” as he put it, of Charlie Parker. But he needed to create a new sound, a music that had nothing to do with anyone except himself. The path he chose was difficult and risky. Nevertheless, he persisted. His work now stands with the greatest music of all time, and continues to inspire devotion, adoration, and joy nearly 50 years after his death.

           Coltrane was also one of the few musicians whose life, thoughts, and words are as inspiring as his music. This book collects, for the first time, those words.

            Coltrane was a gracious interviewee. His responses were thoughtful and measured; he rarely said anything negative about others (though he could be highly self-critical). Interviewers noted how different Coltrane seemed from his music--this quiet man whose music was so volcanic.

            Coltrane on Coltrane includes every known Coltrane interview, many in new transcriptions, and several previously unpublished; articles, reminiscences, and liner notes that rely on interviews; and some of Coltrane’s personal writings and correspondence.

            John Coltrane never wrote an autobiography. This book is as close to one as possible.

Publishers Weekly

Born on September 23, 1926, in Hamlet, N.C., John Coltrane came from a musical family. His father played the violin and ukulele as a hobby, and his mother, who wanted to become a concert singer, played the piano and sang in the church choir. He didn't study music seriously until after high school; after a brief stint in the navy in 1945-1946, where he played with the navy band, he was soon playing tenor and alto sax and clarinet in a band that included Eddie Vinson, Red Garland, and Johnny Coles; he joined Dizzy Gillespie's band and by the mid-1950s was playing with Miles Davis before embarking on his own storied career. Although this collection of interviews--some of them published for the first time--is repetitious, DeVito's (The John Coltrane Reference) volume at least lets Coltrane tell his own story in his own words. The highlight of the entire collection comes from a 1966 Newsweek article in which Coltrane declares: "My goal is to live the truly religious life and express it in my music. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am--my faith, my knowledge, my being." (Sept.)