I do a lot of commuting by car. During my drives, I like to listen to audio books and podcasts. I recently listened to an exceptional collection of podcasts, The Traneumenatary. The Traneumentary is a collection of commentaries on John Coltrane's life and music by musicians and writers. Even if you're die-hard Coltrane fan like me, you'll find new insights into Coltrane and his music. If you are not familiar with Coltrane, it's a wonderful place to start. 'Trane is a towering figure in modern music. Forty years after his death, the music world still hasn't completely come to terms with him.

My affair with Coltrane's music began when I was in high school. During that time, I would occasionally listen to an R&B station out of the Baltimore-Washington area . On one of the early anniversaries of Coltrane's death, the DJ played a couple of Coltrane tunes. Even hearing the music on a scratchy AM station, I knew it was something special. A couple of days later, I checked out the Coltrane bin in a local record store. I found the Expression album. Expression was recorded shortly before Coltrane's death. Knowing nothing about 'Trane or his music, I figured it should be his best. In some ways, I was right.

During those days, some friends and I would play poker at my house with my dad. It was strictly a nickel-dime game; if you won or lost $2.00, it as a big night. My Dad said, "why don't you put on that record that you bought?", so I stuck Expression on the record player. Expression has some pretty "out-there" parts. 'Trane pushes the limits of the sax, but with absolute control. The title piece and the cut, Offering, have some parts that to some ears might be considered harsh or atonal. Needless to say, the poker crowd reacted negatively ("WTF is that!"), except for me and one other guy, Mike Mayes (I wonder where he is today). I was spellbound. I had never heard or even imagined music like that.

Over the years, I have listened to the Expression album and every other Coltrane piece I could find over and over. There is a deep spiritual quality to the music coupled with the coolest damn jazz you can imagine. More importantly, the man himself comes through the music.

I think the spirit of Coltrane is expressed best in these two quotes:

I start from one point and go as far as possible. But, unfortunately, I never lose my way. I say, unfortunately, because what would interest me greatly is to discover paths that I'm perhaps not aware of of.

I would like to bring to people something like happiness. I would like to discover a method so that if I want it to rain, it will start right away to rain. If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to play a certain song and he will be cured; when he'd be broke, I'd bring out a different song and immediately he'd receive all the money he needed.


If I could live like that, maybe I would really be doing something.