About
John Coltrane's tenor saxophone solo on "Chasin' the Trane" is one of the most important improvisations in jazz history. Recorded live at the Village Vanguard in November 1961, the solo spans an astonishing 80 choruses of the 12-bar blues at 236 BPM, lasting over fifteen minutes of unbroken, escalating invention in a trio setting with only Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Without McCoy Tyner's piano, Coltrane has complete harmonic freedom, and he exploits it fully, cycling through motivic development, honking low-register cries, screaming altissimo passages, and multiphonic textures that push the saxophone to its physical limits. Trane starts his solo with the melody but then quickly goes off into his own world. This solo is 80 choruses of intensity without piano that continues for over 15 minutes straight to the end of the tune. It includes a range of emotions and overtones.
John Coltrane was 34 to 35 years old at the time.
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