and repeatedly redefined) the style of music known as jazz.?"I think," Coltrane shared once, "the main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows and senses in the universe. That's what music is to me--it's just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live in, that's been given to us, and here's an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That's what I would like to do. I think that's one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. The musician's is through his music." John Coltrane couldn?t have said it better, and his universe as perceived through his music is indeed beautiful and fast paced, but at the same time can be slow and methodical. He had an incredible talent, but it is the type of person he was that makes his music so memorable. Listening to him one could come to believe he doesn?t even know your there he just plays his feelings, his thoughts, his memories, and we are given a picture a window so to speak into his world of religious devotion and his aspirations. For that many listeners and even musicians were turned away feeling like he was a rebel who was producing nothing but chaos in a sense, not trying to make something extravagant just making what he feels deep inside. Another way of putting that would be to say he was attacked because he chose "not to bend his concepts of music in order to accommodate the pre-determinations and limitations of the audience's ear." But for the same reasons others were drawn to that unique style of music.Pg. 7His music was non political for the most part except for "Alabama," his eulogy for four young black girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. He incorporated existing musical ideas of his day and found his own particular niche which was influenced by Indian and African music, and his style continues to influenc...
