found commercial success with his version of Oscar Hammerstein II’s track “My Favorite Things,” which Coltrane included in his album of the same name released in 1961 with Atlantic Records.
However, Coltrane didn’t let his newfound star status be an obstacle for his endless experimentation, and during the rest of the decade he was going to become increasingly “avant-garde,” growing closer to the style dubbed “free jazz.”
DEATH AND LEGACY
In the last year of his life, Coltrane reached the top of his popularity, having become the reference for an entirely new generation of jazzists, and recognized as a game-changer after the release of his acclaimed album “A Love Supreme” in 1965, which remains Coltrane’s best-known album.
Without knowing he didn’t have much time left, Coltrane took his explorations farther than ever, growing more and more atonal and mystical, starting to add chants to his music.
However, the people in his inner circle, including his second wife Alice, also a prominent jazz musician, worried about his frequent pain, and it was only too late when it was found that he was suffering from a terminal disease.
Coltrane passed away on July 17, 1967, at the age of forty, leaving a lasting legacy on musicians and music fans all over the world.
The late sax player enriched American music greatly, drawing from the musical traditions of other places like Africa, Latin America, the Far East, and South Asia.
In 1992, Coltrane was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, followed by a Pulitzer Prize recognition in 2007. In 2009, newly elected US President Barack Obama hung a portrait of the musician in the private residence of the White House, with the Head of State writing a note to Coltrane’s relatives declaring himself as his fan.
ncG1vNJzZmimlazAb63MqKSapZFjsLC5jmtocG9haXqzscyepJudop67qHnJmrGzZZmYvK95yaifp2WTpLm1vsCnnGaekZjBb7TTpqM%3D