John Coltrane
Tenor Sax Solo on
I Hear a Rhapsody

About

John Coltrane's tenor sax solo opens the improvised portion of this recording, followed by Red Garland on piano. Spanning four choruses of the 32-bar AABA form at an up-tempo 220 BPM with a swing feel in E♭, the solo runs approximately 2:38. Coltrane opens with four commanding choruses of tenor saxophone that demonstrate his rapidly developing technique and harmonic vocabulary, his running eighth-note lines navigating the chord changes with the density and velocity that would soon be described as his "sheets of sound" approach. John Coltrane was 30 to 31 years old at the time of this 1957 recording.

John Coltrane was 30 to 31 years old at the time.