John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John Coltrane (1926–1967), tenor/soprano saxophonist and composer, pushed jazz from hard bop to modal to spiritual avant-garde. With Miles Davis he helped forge Kind of Blue; with his Classic Quartet (McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones) he made A Love Supreme, Crescent and Live at Birdland. Other essentials: Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, Blue Train.