John Coltrane

Born: 23 September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, USA.
Died: 17 July 1967 in Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA (aged 40) from liver cancer.

John Coltrane was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. His early recordings capture a musician in the relatively conventional confines of bebop and hardbop, but his enduring legacy primarily rests on the modal jazz pioneered by his classic quartet (1960-64) and by free jazz explorations late in his career.

He recorded more than fifty albums as a leader and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, performing with other giants of jazz like Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Coltrane received numerous awards including a posthumous "Special Citation" from the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2007 for his 'masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz'.

As his life progressed, his music and outlook became increasingly spiritual. After his death he was proclaimed as a saint by the African Orthodox church that took his name.

Coltrane's second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane; their son Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist.