y, melody and rhythm. Born in 1926, Coltrane played the alto saxophone at the Ornstein School of music in Philadelphia. He was influenced by the music that was later known as R&B. Starting his career he played with a couple big bands. While playing for Dizzy Gillespie Big band he switched to the tenor saxophone. While Coltrane was playing with the Miles Davis band in 1955, Davis was criticized for his choice of a saxophonist because of Coltrane's awkward sound. He was fired from Davis's Band because of his heroin problems. That gave Coltrane the awakening he needed. He quit heroin and focused on his art. He worked with many well-know artists and released some recordings as a leader instead of a sideman. As his music evolved he studied world religions and music of different cultures allowing him to add more "flavor" to jazz. In the mid 60's he emphasized more on expression and put more aggressiveness in his music known as avant-garde, which is like free jazz. During the 50's and 60's men like Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and others developed a form of jazz know as free jazz that "violated traditional structures, tonalities, forms, chord sequences, modes of improvisation, rhythms, and even the tempered scale. ("Free Jazz" Dictionary of American Pop/Rock)" Some people do not like it because of it's "total disorder." Free jazz took classical jazz and brought it into the modern era. ...
