Allen, in Partisan Review, in 1971, [speaking of (William Carlos) Williams):
“The influence was that originality of taking the materials from your own existence rather than taking on hand-me-down poetic materials, speech units, rhythmic units and trying to adapt your life to them – you articulate your rhythm, your own rhythms. The concept of that led, in the ‘forties, to Abstract Expressionist painting and (Willem) de Kooning and (Franz) Kline, it led, in music, to Ornette Colman and all, and uh.. who was a teacher there? – the guy who died two [actually, four] years ago – John Coltrane. It was the same rediscovery of individual soul’s impulse that led into Coltrane.”
Tip of the hat to the ever-informative Open Culture for reminding us that 87 years ago today (97 years ago – 2023), in Hamlet, North Carolina, marked the birth of a legend – John William Coltrane, “‘Trane”.
This is an interesting quote from Ginsburg. I am currently reading Miles: The Autobiography. Miles Davis talks about playing with Coltrane and how he grew in his music. Coltrane learned a lot from Miles. The thing I found interesting is how much the memberso of the band would change. Miles talks a lot about learning from other musicians — both older and younger. Miles played with Charlie Parker and Dizzy when he started out.
Yeah. But both brilliant in his own way. You want twins?
The lumping of Ornette and Trane together or even mentioning them in the same breath is a major insult to Trane. His music contained a vast and complex amount of form and was very structured. Just the opposite was the case with Ornette.