John Coltrane My Favorite Things

Growing up, I have always loved the musical The Sound of Music. In fact, when I was in high school, we played a few selections from The Sound of Music soundtrack in the orchestra my Junior year. I used to believe I knew everything about The Sound of Music: the plot, the characters, the music, etc. until last Tuesday when we listened to John Coltrane’s incredible jazz improvisation of “My Favorite Things” in the film “The World According to John Coltrane.” Sadly, it was the first time I watched Coltrane’s performance of “My Favorite Things.” I was stunned by his amazing version of my second to favorite song from The Sound of Music. Coltrane’s brilliant playing technique amazed me. When he played the saxophone, he gave off this feeling that he was truly passionate about what he was doing. His body movements, his facial expressions, his fingering, and even his breathing was very artistic. He engaged with the audience through music. In my opinion, John Coltrane was one of the brilliant musicians who had the ability to manipulate emotions within his music.

For instance, during the Civil Right Movement in the 1960s, jazz music was more spiritual with recordings such as “Peace on Earth” and “Dear Lord.” John Coltrane was one of the musicians who used music to reflect his feeling about the political tension during this period.

After the bombing in 1963, he wrote the song “Alabama” to honor the victims and express his emotions. When I listened “Alabama,” I could feel the sadness within the band. There was this gloomy feeling when the piano and the saxophone set off the low tone at the beginning of the song. In addition to this, the musicians made it more convincing with their facial

expressions.
From my perspective, John Coltrane’s spiritual musical style was largely influenced by his close relationship with his mother. After John Coltrane’s father passed away when he was a young boy, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia with his mother. Growing up with a religious mother, Coltrane’s musical style was heavily affected by his religious background. According to his wife Alice Coltrane, he enjoyed exploring all different kinds of music from all around the world such as Japanese spiritual music, the music of Africa, and classical music of Brazil. Often, the music of John Coltrane was very meditative. When we listened to a few music selections in the film, I could feel the energy in his music: the type of energy you find at church and Eastern classical music.
After his early musical experience at church, John Coltrane continued to study music and the bebop style with Miles Davis’s band in 1955. When he was with Davis, his musical growth sped up rapidly. During this period, Coltrane developed an astonishing technique. Under Miles Davis’s mentor, Coltrane learned to do improvisation and composition by changing chords and extending the music. Later, John Coltrane became wildly popular with his version of “My Favorite Things” using this improvisation technique.
In 1960, John Coltrane found interest in Indian classical music and expanded his musical structure. Composer La Monte Young recalled that Coltrane placed serious emphasis on intonation and sound vibrations. When he had the opportunity to play with spiritual masters in Morocco, Coltrane’s spiritual musical intensity marked a transition in his music career: a “free” realm. Although his followers did not appreciate his “free” musical movement at the time, Coltrane’s “free” realm later became popular among musicians who appreciated the free improvisation and music.
On July 17, 1967, John Coltrane passed away due to liver cancer. Despite his brief music career, John Coltrane remained one of the most influential musicians in jazz history. With the many transitions in his career, John Coltrane inspired young musicians to take chances, follow their interest, and never be afraid to try out different things.