IMPORTANT NEW BOOKS:

Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control
by Kelly Lytle Hernández
W. W. Norton & Company, 2026

[‎Publication date: September 22, 2026]

 

A revolutionary new history that exposes the "whites-only" roots of the American immigration regime.

In Racist by Design, award-winning historian Kelly Lytle Hernández reveals how generations of lawmakers and law enforcers built the American immigration system to encourage white immigrants while targeting nonwhite migrants for exclusion, punishment, and removal. The goal, often explicitly stated by the system’s architects, was to create a permanent caste of undocumented and criminalized workers to provide cheap labor for the American economy.

Many Americans’ understanding of the immigration system begins with the Chinese Exclusion Act of the late nineteenth century. Lytle Hernández expands that history by a full century, showing how the Haitian Revolution of the 1790s inspired not only America’s first immigration bans (to prevent news of a free Black republic from reaching our shores) but also its first refugee resettlement program (to welcome and support Haiti’s evicted enslavers.) She explains how Chinese Exclusion led the Supreme Court to disconnect immigration laws from the constitution. She reveals how eugenicists and Jim Crow segregationists built much of our current immigration regime as expressly "whites-only," and shows how during the Civil Rights Movement, Congress amended this system but never abolished it, leaving many of the regime’s racist rules and rituals intact today.

Lytle Hernández calls Racist by Design "an act of sabotage," a book that will expose the blueprints of the system, so it can be dismantled. A nuanced, concise, and brilliant work that will outrage and inflame readers, Racist by Design is a major work by one of our most important historians.

REVIEWS:

"It is tempting to see this enormous crackdown as a distortion of immigration enforcement, a system bent to authoritarian purposes by a president unusually willing to test its limits. UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernández’s new book, Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control, offers a more disturbing explanation: Trump did not have to build this apparatus. America built it for him."― Jimmy So, The New Republic

"In her latest, MacArthur genius Kelly Lytle Hernández does her part to sabotage the machine of immigration and the white nationalism and racial capitalism intentionally baked into its components. Expertly researched and accessibly written, Racist By Design is a book for our times. It’s this month’s #RequiredReading."― Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

"[A] landmark examination of the racist roots of the American immigration system... a definitive and forceful call for reform."― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Lytle Hernández’s narrative bursts with relevance… A disguised and convoluted history made decipherable and urgent."― Kirkus Reviews

"You can’t demolish something unless you know how it’s built. Kelly Lytle Hernández’s brilliant new book lays out a scathing blueprint to help us understand the key roles that racism and white supremacy have always played in our immigration system. As usual, Lytle Hernández gives us a history lesson that lives, breathes, and most importantly, fights back."― Jason De León, author of Soldiers and Kings

"At a moment when the punditry and politics of immigration so distresses the United States, award-winning historian Kelly Lytle Hernández makes it make sense. Racist by Design is a courageous call to conscience that encourages us to resist the forces of history and replace them with possibilities born of struggle."― Martha S. Jones, author of Birthright Citizens

"Based on original research and thinking, Kelly Lytle Hernández explains how America’s immigration law was founded on the racist premise that the country should be for white people. Black, Asian, and Latinx migrants and communities fought for the right to be in the U.S. and persisted in winning some reforms; but the hard truth is that the edifice remains. Lytle Hernández builds on a generation of immigration scholarship and takes it to another level. Important, accessible, and urgent."― Mae Ngai, author of The Chinese Question

"In Racist by Design, Kelly Lytle Hernández brings the same fire she has brought to her scholarship for twenty years, showing how white supremacy has shaped our immigration system. She details how that regime was built, brick by brick, law by law, decision by decision, through precedents, rules, enforcement, and operational protocols. But like anything built, this system can be unbuilt, and Lytle Hernandez gives us the blueprints."― Natalia Molina, author of The Other Immigrant Story

"Kelly Lytle Hernández is unparalleled at unearthing hidden histories of immigrant exclusion in the United States. Racist by Design reveals the depths of white supremacist policymaking and the creative resistance efforts that have challenged it. This illuminating and damning intervention in today’s immigration crisis narratives gives weight to the argument that there can be no migrant justice without racial justice."― Silky Shah, author of Unbuild Walls


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kelly Lytle Hernández is the Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History at UCLA. She is a MacArthur "genius grant" recipient and the author of Racist by Design, Bad Mexicans, and several other award-winning books about race, immigration, policing, and the carceral state. She lives in Los Angeles.

 

The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America's Courts
by Alex Wagner
Flatiron Books, 2026

[Publication date: September 15, 2026]

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From celebrated news anchor, journalist, and host of Crooked Media's "Runaway Country," Alex Wagner, the wild and true story of how a group of right-wing raiders changed the American judiciary forever.

The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 was a sharp right turn for American governance. After decades on the fringes, the conservative right had risen to power, finally poised to fashion some of the country's most pressing issues in its image. Tax cuts, aggressive foreign policy, and law and order would soon become the cornerstones of Reagan's agenda. But, behind the scenes, a select group of administration officials and ideological allies had their eyes set on something much more valuable: an institution with the power to shape the country's legal, cultural and existential identity, long after any presidential term ended.

Ed Meese, a native Californian, former DA, and aide to Reagan from his days as governor, knew exactly what he had to do to seize the Supreme Court: get as many judges on the bench as possible, and make sure they were as conservative as he was on issues like abortion rights, taxes, and criminal justice. Working in parallel to achieve the same goal were a band of fellow true-believers: Paul Weyrich, the firebrand organizer; Joe Coors, the beer magnate whose fortune funded many of Weyrich’s efforts; and Robert Bork, the towering legal intellect of the right, and an important mentor to a few young law students starting a new organization called The Federalist Society. By the end of the decade, these men would change the face of the American judiciary forever. Told with a pitch-perfect blend of journalistic rigor and propulsive storytelling, The Steal takes readers into the closed-door meetings, public nomination hearings, and back rooms of American political power to reveal the true story behind one of the most significant moments in American history, and how it affects us to this day.

REVIEWS:

“This fascinating history will help readers better understand how history is reflected in current judicial decisions.” –Library Journal

“A penetrating look at how a political fringe makes itself mainstream through force of law.” –Kirkus Reviews

"The Steal answers the question that haunts American politics right now: How did we get here? Alex Wagner has written the origin story of the decades-long plot to capture the courts―from Berkeley in the sixties to the fall of Roe―and makes you understand it not as an inevitability, but as a choice, made by a small group of men, that most of us never saw coming. Riveting, meticulous, and infuriating in equal measure, The Steal is a book that everyone should read." ―Jon Favreau, New York Times bestselling author of Democracy or Else and co-founder of Crooked Media


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alex Wagner is the host of the podcast Runaway Country, a contributor to Pod Save America (both on Crooked Media), a Senior Political Analyst at MS NOW, and the author of “How the Hell… with Alex Wagner” on Substack. She was previously a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, an Executive Producer and Co-host of “The Circus” on Showtime, and a special correspondent with CBS News. Her critically acclaimed memoir, Futureface, was published in 2018.

 

 

Coltrane: The Definitive Visual Celebration of the Legend
by Ravi Coltrane, (Editor & Contributor)

With Contributors:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Wayne Coyne 
Dev Hynes 
Phil Lesh 
Julie Mehretu 
Carlos Santana 
Patti Smith

Ten Speed Press, 2026

[Publication date: September 1, 2026]

 

The definitive photographic celebration of John Coltrane's life and music, featuring exclusive contributions written by Ravi Coltrane, Wayne Coyne, Dev Hynes, Phil Lesh, Julie Mehretu, Carlos Santana, and Patti Smith.

John Coltrane's impact on music and culture endures far beyond his prolific career and untimely death in 1967 at age forty. His masterful saxophone style and groundbreaking jazz compositions had a profound effect on the evolution of music through the decades, and it continues to resonate across styles and genres to this day.

This beautiful photography book offers an intimate and in-depth look at his life with over one hundred expertly curated images taken by renowned photographers such as Chuck Stewart and Francis Wolff. The selection includes outtakes from the album cover photoshoot for Ascension, in-studio candid shots taken during the recording of Blue Train, a glimpse backstage with Alice Coltrane before their first performance together, and more. Coltrane is a visual celebration of John Coltrane's musical legacy, complete with an introduction by his son and fellow musician Ravi Coltrane, along with personal stories from other musicians, artists, and writers who have been moved by his work.

  

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ravi Coltrane is a critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Born on Long Island, the second son of John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane, Ravi was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar. He was raised in Los Angeles, where his family moved after his father's death in 1967. Ravi maintains a fast-paced touring, recording, composing, and performance schedule. He leads the effort to restore the John Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, Long Island, and presides over important reissues of his parents' recordings.

 
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

John Coltrane's Music Spoke My Words
by Kareen Abdul-Jabbar

When I was about fourteen years old living in New York City, I used to tune into WJZ (later WABC) and listen to “the dean of jazz radio,” Symphony Sid, a Jewish DJ who was responsible for introducing and promoting some of the greatest jazz musicians, including Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Charlie Parker, and Billie Eckstine. Symphony Sid, whose real name was Sid Torin, had such an infectious passion for jazz that he is credited with popularizing bebop through his show, which reached thirty states.

I didn’t know about any of that. I tuned in to hear John Coltrane’s album My Favorite Things, which Symphony Sid played every night. And every night I eagerly tuned the radio dial to eighty so I could be transported by the edgy energy of Coltrane’s sassy saxophone.

This was not my first exposure to jazz. My father was a jazz musician who had graduated from Juilliard. And even though he was an imposing transit cop by day, he was still a swinging musician by night, playing with the likes of Sonny Rollins and Bill Lee (director Spike Lee’s father). Sometimes he took me with him to a gig and introduced me to his fellow musicians, including Tito Puente, Kenny Durham, and Ernie Henry. Ordinarily, my father was a quiet man, miserly with words as if each one cost him money. But when he played his music, he was speaking all the words he’d stored in his emotional vault. And the notes he bent and blasted spoke in a way that words could never quite equal. I heard what he had to say.

I, too, was a quiet person. My attempts at being a musician didn’t bear any sweet fruit, just some sour notes. If I couldn’t speak through music, listening to jazz was like hearing all my inner thoughts and feelings being spoken aloud. And no one spoke the mystical language of young Kareem better than John Coltrane.

I don’t think I was aware at the time that the title song from that album, My Favorite Things, originated in the 1959 Broadway musical. So when I first heard Julie Andrews’s chipper version, which has become a perennial Christmas hit, it was nothing like my experience with Coltrane’s version. Andrews’s song was whimsical and childlike (as befits lyrics about “whiskers on kittens”), while Coltrane blared a much more mature song that conveyed both longing and celebration. When Andrews’s version ended, the musical experience was over. But when Coltrane’s ended, the listener was still riding the aftermath as it lingered in their minds and bodies.

I finally met Coltrane when I was a freshman at UCLA at the famous It Club on West Washington Boulevard. I’d already heard of the It Club from Thelonious Monk’s 1964 album Live at the It Club. And I knew Miles Davis, another of my favorites, played there. There were also rumors that the owner, John McClain, had been friends with gangster “Bugsy” Siegel. For a college freshman, that just made it hipper.

After their set, I approached the band because the drummer, Elvin Jones, was friends with my uncle Steve. Elvin was happy to see me and introduced me to the boys in the band, including John Coltrane, who was as gracious as I could have hoped for. Jimmy Garrison, the bass player, even gave me an impromptu bass lesson, which, for white kids my age, would be akin to having Paul McCartney pull you onstage for a bass lesson.

That was the only time I saw him in person, though I did see his band several times again. A year and a half later, on July 17, 1967, John Coltrane died of liver cancer. He was only forty years old.

For me, fifty-four years have passed since I saw him, yet he still has the same power over me that he had when I was fourteen and tuning in nightly to Symphony Sid. In those five and a half decades, I’ve had time to reflect on why Coltrane had such an enduring effect on me and on his many fans.

To me, the essence of Coltrane is that he elevated every song he covered to a richer, more complex level. He took songs that were merely entertaining and made them inspiring. And his own compositions had that same innovative DNA that left the listener feeling like they’d descended deeper into a song than was possible and yet came out uplifted and invigorated. Those feelings are what inspired me to name my autobiography after one of his iconic compositions, “Giant Steps.”

Of course, today I recognize the irony that, while I’d used the title to poke fun at my height as well as my progress through life, it was really Coltrane who was taking giant steps and that with each massive stride forward, he was taking jazz and Black culture with him. He had been my voice when I was growing up, but he was also the voice of jazz as it too grew up from post–World War II to the modern era. His influence wasn’t just from his solo compositions and performances but also from his collaborations with other greats like Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis who produced the famous “sheets of sound” rush of notes.

John Coltrane’s music is the soundtrack to the Black experience in America. In his “Song of the Underground Railroad,” one can hear the sense of triumph, the elation of survival, and even the insistent chuffing of the drums urging us forward. The lively riffs in “Afro Blue” link the past with the present for African Americans. As I mention specific songs, I feel a rush of all his work filling me up with pride in who I am, and joy in being part of a larger, richer culture. I am fourteen, I am forty-five, I am seventy-two—all at the same time—and I am hearing my innermost thoughts and feelings floating through the air on the clouds of notes of John Coltrane.

 

Part of the Story: Writings from Half a Century
by Margaret Busby
Hamish Hamilton UK, 2026

[Publication date: ‎ September 29, 2026]

'This fascinating and simply fantastic book is a comprehensive record of Margaret Busby's exceptional life story . . . A true trailblazer, we all walk in the deep imprints of her footsteps' Bernardine Evaristo

This rare self-portrait from pioneering publisher, writer and cultural activist Margaret Busby underscores her powerful legacy and celebrates some of the people and places that have shaped her exceptional life

Margaret Busby has been at the heart of cultural life in the UK for over 50 years. From becoming Britain's youngest and first Black woman publisher when she founded publishing house Allison & Busby, to editing the ground-breaking international anthologies Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa, her many achievements are testament to her dedication to championing the lives and stories of others, particularly those throughout the world who have been marginalised by the mainstream.

With little attention previously given to her own skills as a writer, Part of the Story is a unique opportunity to enjoy her own remarkable literary output. It brings together her writings on people, places, politics and publishing, and provides a rich insight into the many elements that have contributed to shaping her life, from her childhood in Ghana to the Black writers, intellectuals, artists and activists she has worked with, befriended, supported and championed for over half a century.

REVIEW:

'Margaret has been a cheerleader, instigator, organiser, defender and celebrator of black arts for the past 50 years . . . She helped change the landscape of both UK publishing and arts coverage and so many Black British artists owe her a debt. I know I do' –Zadie Smith

Land of Our Own: Malcolm X and the Evolution of Black Nationalism
by Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
Polity,  2026

[Publication date: ‎September 8, 2026]

 

Black nationalist ideas have been debated over centuries, and have shaped black religious, cultural, economic, and intellectual thought. But how is black nationalism popularly understood? And how should we reckon with the unique position of black people in the United States, where black nationalism has been fundamentally shaped by the white nationalism expressed before the Civil War?

In this illuminating new book, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar sheds much-needed light on black community, unity, and identity. The story of black nationalism is not limited to "back-to-Africa" Garveyites or to the religious nationalism of the Nation of Islam. By retelling the story of Malcolm X, Ogbar reveals how black nationalist thought has shaped ideas centered on internationalism, self-determination, self-defense, and electoral empowerment. More than "racial solidarity" or racial pride, black nationalism seeks territorial and political sovereignty – and the (often transnational) efforts to achieve nationhood have brought disparate communities together under the single banner of nationalism.

Offering both a panoramic and meticulous history, this lively book is essential reading for anyone who has been curious about the extraordinary impact of black nationalism in contemporary America.

REVIEWS:

"Today, more than ever, we need Malcolm's model of a revolutionary spirit, his love for oppressed people, his commitment to self-determination, and his belief in political sovereignty. Land of Our Own is brilliantly argued, and in many ways undeniable."
Kellie Carter Jackson, Wellesley College and author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance

"For many, black nationalism evokes iconic images of Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X. In Land of Our Own, Jeffrey Ogbar broadens this familiar narrative. A masterful synthesis of history and political thought, this book is essential reading for newcomers and established students of black nationalism alike."
Ashley D. Farmer, author of Queen Mother, Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Connecticut.

 

 

 

FASCIST AMERICA 2026: Renowned independent journalist, social critic, Public intellectual and courageous media analyst and producer Medhi Hasan and Melat Kiros the exciting democratic socialist from Colorado now on her way to Congress in November in conversation regarding devising viable political strategies to combat Israel's genocide in Gaza and the domestic rise of Fascism in the United States--Stay tuned!

VIDEO:
https://zeteo.com/p/firs-gen-z-congresswoman-melat-kiros?publication_id=2325511&post_id=216903723&

VIDEO LENGTH: 27 minutes

She’s Gen Z. She’s an Immigrant. And She’s Going to Congress!

Meet Melat Kiros, the democratic socialist insurgent who defeated a sitting Democrat from Colorado, and whose path to Congress started after being fired for opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

by Mehdi Hasan and Team Zeteo
September 23, 2026
Zeteo

Colorado’s Melat Kiros is set to be the first Gen Z woman in Congress, and she’s looking to break the mold of establishment Democratic politics. In July, she won the Democratic Party House primary in Denver against a sitting congresswoman who took office before Kiros was even born; now she joins Mehdi to discuss her plans after the November elections.

“We’re not coming to just shake the table for the sake of shaking it. But the table does need to be shaken,” Kiros tells Mehdi.

Kiros, who’s all but assured to win her deep blue district, discusses whether she will be voting for minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as House speaker, how democratic socialism is the tool to counter “billionaires that are literally developing a technology that is designed to replace us,” and why she will not disown Hasan Piker, with whom she campaigned. “We are holding a Twitch streamer to a higher level of accountability than a lot of these administration officials.”

Watch the full conversation above to hear how being fired from her job as a corporate attorney over her opposition to the genocide in Gaza led to Kiros’ upset win against a 15-term incumbent democrat, plus how she defines as democratic socialism, and the need to address gerontocracy in the U.S.

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·

2026 IS THE CENTENNIAL YEAR OF SIX MAJOR WORLD HISTORICAL FIGURES ALL BORN IN 1926: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Fidel Castro, Chuck Berry, Oscar Brown, Jr. and Michel Foucault

2026 IS THE CENTENNIAL YEAR OF JOHN COLTRANE (b. September 23, 1926--d. July 17, 1967)

Today, September 25, 2026 we feature the life, art, and legacy of the iconic and legendary musician and composer John Coltrane--Part 4

MILES DAVIS
(b. May 26, 1926–d. September 28, 1991)

JOHN COLTRANE
(b. September 23, 1926–d. July 17, 1967)

FIDEL CASTRO
(b. August 13, 1926–d. November 25, 2016)


CHUCK BERRY
(b. October 18, 1926–d. March 18, 2017)

OSCAR BROWN, Jr.
(b. October 10, 1926–d. May 29, 2005)

MICHEL FOUCAULT
(b. October 15, 1926–d. June 25, 1984)

https://soundprojections.blogspot.com/2024/02/welcome-to-new-sound projections_0151320914.html

https://soundprojections.blogspot.com/2015/09/john-coltrane-1926-1967-legendary.html

JOHN COLTRANE (1926-1967): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musician, composer, arranger, music theorist, ensemble leader, and philosopher

SOME MAJOR RECORDINGS AND LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM 1957-1967: 

 
John Coltrane - Giant Steps--Atlantic, 1959 (2020 Remaster) [Full Album]:

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy_fxxj1mMY&list=RDxy_fxxj1mMY&start_radio=1&t=263s

John Coltrane - Ole--Atlantic, 1961 (full album):

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubR7abm0Rhg&list=RDubR7abm0Rhg&start_radio=1 

 

John Coltrane--Africa/Brass--Impulse, 1961

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqEouEEw6rU

 

John C̲o̲l̲t̲r̲a̲n̲e̲ – ̲B̲l̲u̲e̲ T̲r̲a̲i̲n--Blue Note,1̲9̲5̲7 (full album)

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hJsN3yt1Q8&list=RD8hJsN3yt1Q8&start_radio=1 

 

 

John Coltrane - Crescent--Impulse records, 1964

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOwW9j0YzgM&list=RDeOwW9j0YzgM&start_radio=1&t=54s

Coltrane Plays the Blues--Atlantic, 1962 (Full Album)

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QExnO0hZNr4&list=RDQExnO0hZNr4&start_radio=1&t=2

55s 

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme--Impulse, 1965 [Full Album] 

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liED3MREpKw&list=RDliED3MREpKw&start_radio=1 

 

JohnColtrane--Coltrane--Impulse,1962--(full album)

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO_cMAlstTM&list=RDjO_cMAlstTM&start_radio=1

 

John Coltrane--Impressions--Impulse, 1963 (full album)

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMMqfQJusg&list=RDUGMMqfQJusg&start_radio=1&t=31s

 

The John Coltrane Quartet Plays--Impulse, 1965

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtSor9kUXOA&list=RDqtSor9kUXOA&start_radio=1 

 

 

John Coltrane Quartet--Ascencion--Impulse, 1965

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-81AEUqHPzU&list=RD-81AEUqHPzU&start_radio=1 

 

 

John Coltrane Quartet--Meditations--Impulse, 1966

 

VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzfMR-7v1I&list=RDTuzfMR-7v1I&start_radio=1

 

Ravi Coltrane (Special Tribute to John Coltrane) live at Detroit Jazz festival at Hart Plaza:


Carey Foster

September 5, 2026

VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWAPl13AyaY&list=RDhWAPl13AyaY&start_radio=1&t=175s 

 

 

HART PLAZA 

Jazz Artist Ravi Coltrane, The son of the late Jazz Saxophone Artist John Coltrane and the late Jazz harp/ piano vocalist Alice Coltrane. playing a Special Tribute to his Father the late John Coltrane who would of been turning 100 years old on September 23rd but John Coltrane died at the age 40 on July 17, 1967. Ravi was born in 1965 so he was only 2 years old when his Father died but this is beautiful Tribute to his dad. one of the greatest Jazz Saxophone player in the History of Jazz music in America we honor that legacy of the great late John Coltrane happy Heavenly 1000th birthday celebration: John William Coltrane September 23, 1926- July 17, 1967 and his Mother Detroit native Alice Lucille Mc Leod Coltrane August 27, 1937- January 12, 2007

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-coltrane-mn0000175553 

John Coltrane 

Artist Biography 

by William Ruhlmann

 

A towering musical figure of the 20th century, saxophonist John Coltrane reset the parameters of jazz during his decade as a leader. At the outset, he was a vigorous practitioner of hard bop, gaining prominence as a sideman for Miles Davis before setting out as a leader in 1957, when he released Coltrane on Prestige and Blue Train on Blue Note. Coltrane quickly expanded his horizons, pioneering a technique critic Ira Gitler dubbed "sheets of sound," consisting of the saxophonist playing a flurry of notes on his tenor within the confines of a few chords. During his last days with Davis, along with his earliest records for Atlantic, Coltrane leaned into this technique, but as he developed his career as a leader in the early '60s, he also turned lyrical. His sweet, fluid soprano sax distinguished My Favorite Things, which helped turn the album into a standard upon its release in 1961, but Coltrane soon backed away from mainstream acceptance. Working with pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison -- a band that would be labeled the "Classic Quartet" -- Coltrane entered a fearless exploratory phase, explicitly incorporating his spiritual quest into his experimental music. A Love Supreme, an album released on Impulse! in 1965, marked the popular height of this period, but Coltrane continued to voyage to the outer edges of jazz in his final years, collaborating with Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders. Liver cancer ended his life prematurely: he died at the age of 40 in 1967, just ten years after his first LP as a leader -- but Coltrane's legacy was so varied and rich, he remained the touchstone for creativity in jazz for decades after his passing.

Coltrane was the son of John R. Coltrane, a tailor and amateur musician, and Alice (Blair) Coltrane. Two months after his birth, his maternal grandfather, the Reverend William Blair, was promoted to presiding elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church and moved his family, including his infant grandson, to High Point, North Carolina, where Coltrane grew up. Shortly after he graduated from grammar school in 1939, his father, his grandparents, and his uncle died, leaving him to be raised in a family consisting of his mother, his aunt, and his cousin. His mother worked as a domestic to support the family. The same year, he joined a community band in which he played clarinet and E flat alto horn; he took up the alto saxophone in his high school band. During World War II, Coltrane's mother, aunt, and cousin moved north to New Jersey to seek work, leaving him with family friends; in 1943, when he graduated from high school, he too headed north, settling in Philadelphia. Eventually, the family was reunited there.

 

While taking jobs outside music, Coltrane briefly attended the Ornstein School of Music and studied at Granoff Studios. He also began playing in local clubs. In 1945, he was drafted into the navy and stationed in Hawaii. He never saw combat, but he continued to play music and, in fact, made his first recording with a quartet of other sailors on July 13, 1946. A performance of Tadd Dameron's "Hot House," it was released in 1993 on the Rhino Records anthology The Last Giant. Coltrane was discharged in the summer of 1946 and returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he began playing in the Joe Webb Band. In early 1947, he switched to the King Kolax Band. During the year, he switched from alto to tenor saxophone. One account claims that this was as the result of encountering alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and feeling the better-known musician had exhausted the possibilities on the instrument; another says that the switch occurred simply because Coltrane next joined a band led by Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, who was an alto player, forcing Coltrane to play tenor. He moved on to Jimmy Heath's group in mid-1948, staying with the band, which evolved into the Howard McGhee All Stars until early 1949, when he returned to Philadelphia. That fall, he joined a big band led by Dizzy Gillespie, remaining until the spring of 1951, by which time the band had been trimmed to a septet. On March 1, 1951, he took his first solo on record during a performance of "We Love to Boogie" with Gillespie.

 

At some point during this period, Coltrane became a heroin addict, which made him more difficult to employ. He played with various bands, mostly around Philadelphia, during the early '50s, his next important job coming in the spring of 1954, when Johnny Hodges, temporarily out of the Duke Ellington band, hired him. But he was fired because of his addiction in September 1954. He returned to Philadelphia, where he was playing when he was hired by Miles Davis a year later. His association with Davis was the big break that finally established him as an important jazz musician. Davis, a former drug addict himself, had kicked his habit and gained recognition at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, resulting in a contract with Columbia Records and the opportunity to organize a permanent band, which, in addition to him and Coltrane, consisted of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer "Philly" Joe Jones. This unit immediately began to record extensively, not only because of the Columbia contract, but also because Davis had signed with the major label before fulfilling a deal with jazz independent Prestige Records that still had five albums to run. The trumpeter's Columbia debut, 'Round About Midnight, which he immediately commenced recording, did not appear until March 1957. The first fruits of his association with Coltrane came in April 1956 with the release of The New Miles Davis Quintet (aka Miles), recorded for Prestige on November 16, 1955. During 1956, in addition to his recordings for Columbia, Davis held two marathon sessions for Prestige to fulfill his obligation to the label, which released the material over a period of time under the titles Cookin' (1957), Relaxin' (1957), Workin' (1958), and Steamin' (1961).

Coltrane's association with Davis inaugurated a period when he began to frequently record as a sideman. Davis may have been trying to end his association with Prestige, but Coltrane began appearing on many of the label's sessions. After he became better known in the '60s, Prestige and other labels began to repackage this work under his name, as if he had been the leader, a process that has continued to the present day. (Prestige was acquired by Fantasy Records in 1972, and many of the recordings in which Coltrane participated have been reissued on Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics [OJC] imprint.)

Coltrane tried and failed to kick heroin in the summer of 1956, and in October, Davis fired him, though the trumpeter had relented and taken him back by the end of November. Early in 1957, Coltrane formally signed with Prestige as a solo artist, though he remained in the Davis band and also continued to record as a sideman for other labels. In April, Davis fired him again. This may have given him the impetus to finally kick his drug habit, and freed of the necessity of playing gigs with Davis, he began to record even more frequently. On May 31, 1957, he finally made his recording debut as a leader, putting together a pickup band consisting of trumpeter Johnny Splawn, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, pianists Mal Waldron and Red Garland (on different tracks), bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Al "Tootie" Heath. They cut an album Prestige simply titled Coltrane upon release in September 1957. (It has since been reissued under the title First Trane.)

 

In June 1957, Coltrane joined the Thelonious Monk Quartet, consisting of Monk on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Shadow Wilson on drums. During this period, he developed a technique of playing several notes at once, and his solos began to go on longer. In August, he recorded material belatedly released on the Prestige albums Lush Life (1960) and The Last Trane (1965), as well as the material for John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, released later in the year. (It was later reissued under the title Traneing In.) But Coltrane's second album to be recorded and released contemporaneously under his name alone was cut in September for Blue Note Records. This was Blue Train, featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Kenny Drew, and the Miles Davis rhythm section of Chambers and "Philly" Joe Jones; it was released in December 1957. That month, Coltrane rejoined Davis, playing in what was now a sextet that also featured Cannonball Adderley. In January 1958, he led a recording session for Prestige that produced tracks later released on Lush Life, The Last Trane, and The Believer (1964). In February and March, he recorded Davis' album Milestones, released later in 1958. In between the sessions, he cut his third album to be released under his name alone, Soultrane, issued in September by Prestige. Also in March 1958, he cut tracks as a leader that would be released later on the Prestige collection Settin' the Pace (1961). In May, he again recorded for Prestige as a leader, though the results would not be heard until the release of Black Pearls in 1964.

 

Coltrane appeared as part of the Miles Davis group at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1958. The band's set was recorded and released in 1964 on an LP also featuring a performance by Thelonious Monk as Miles & Monk at Newport. In 1988, Columbia reissued the material on an album called Miles & Coltrane. The performance inspired a review in Down Beat, the leading jazz magazine, that was an early indication of the differing opinions on Coltrane that would be expressed throughout the rest of his career and long after his death. The review referred to his "angry tenor," which, it said, hampered the solidarity of the Davis band. The review led directly to an article published in the magazine on October 16, 1958, in which critic Ira Gitler defended the saxophonist and coined the much-repeated phrase "sheets of sound" to describe his playing.

 

Coltrane's next Prestige session as a leader occurred in July 1958 and resulted in tracks later released on the albums Standard Coltrane (1962), Stardust (1963), and Bahia (1965). All of these tracks were later compiled on a reissue called The Stardust Session. He did a final session for Prestige in December 1958, recording tracks later released on The Believer, Stardust, and Bahia. This completed his commitment to the label, and he signed to Atlantic Records, making his first recording for his new employers on January 15, 1959 with a session on which he was co-billed with vibes player Milt Jackson, though it did not appear until 1961 with the LP Bags and Trane. In March and April 1959, Coltrane participated with the Davis group on the album Kind of Blue. Released on August 17, 1959, this landmark album known for its "modal" playing (improvisations based on scales or "modes," rather than chords) became one of the best-selling and most-acclaimed recordings in the history of jazz.

 

By the end of 1959, Coltrane had recorded what would be his Atlantic debut, Giant Steps, released in early 1960. The album, consisting entirely of Coltrane compositions, in a sense marked his real debut as a leading jazz performer, even though the 33-year-old musician had released three previous solo albums and made numerous other recordings. His next Atlantic album, Coltrane Jazz, was mostly recorded in November and December 1959 and released in February 1961. In April 1960, he finally left the Davis band and formally launched his solo career, beginning an engagement at the Jazz Gallery in New York, accompanied by pianist Steve Kuhn (soon replaced by McCoy Tyner), bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Pete La Roca (later replaced by Billy Higgins and then Elvin Jones). During this period, he increasingly played soprano saxophone as well as tenor.

 

In October 1960, Coltrane recorded a series of sessions for Atlantic that would produce material for several albums, including a final track used on Coltrane Jazz and tunes used on My Favorite Things (March 1961), Coltrane Plays the Blues (July 1962), and Coltrane's Sound (June 1964). His soprano version of "My Favorite Things," from the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II musical The Sound of Music, would become a signature song for him. During the winter of 1960-1961, bassist Reggie Workman replaced Steve Davis in his band, and saxophone and flute player Eric Dolphy gradually became a member of the group.

 

In the wake of the commercial success of "My Favorite Things," Coltrane's star rose, and he was signed away from Atlantic as the flagship artist of the newly formed Impulse! Records label, an imprint of ABC-Paramount, though in May he cut a final album for Atlantic, Olé (February 1962). The following month, he completed his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass. By this time, his playing was frequently in a style alternately dubbed "avant-garde," "free," or "The New Thing." Like Ornette Coleman, he played seemingly formless, extended solos that some listeners found tremendously impressive, and others decried as noise. In November 1961, John Tynan, writing in Down Beat, referred to Coltrane's playing as "anti-jazz." That month, however, Coltrane recorded one of his most celebrated albums, Live at the Village Vanguard, an LP paced by the 16-minute improvisation "Chasin' the Trane."

 

Between April and June 1962, Coltrane cut his next Impulse! studio album, another release called simply Coltrane when it appeared later in the year. Working with producer Bob Thiele, he began to do extensive studio sessions, far more than Impulse! could profitably release at the time, especially with Prestige and Atlantic still putting out their own archival albums. But the material would serve the label well after the saxophonist's untimely death. Thiele acknowledged that Coltrane's next three Impulse! albums to be released, Ballads, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, and John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman (all 1963), were recorded at his behest to quiet the critics of Coltrane's more extreme playing. Impressions (1963), drawn from live and studio recordings made in 1962 and 1963, was a more representative effort, as was 1964's Live at Birdland, also a combination of live and studio tracks, despite its title. But Crescent, also released in 1964, seemed to find a middle ground between traditional and free playing, and was welcomed by critics. This trend was continued with 1965's A Love Supreme, one of Coltrane's best-loved albums, which earned him two Grammy nominations, for Jazz Composition and Performance, and became his biggest-selling record. Also during the year, Impulse! released the standards collection The John Coltrane Quartet Plays... and another album of "free" playing, Ascension, as well as New Thing at Newport, a live album consisting of one side by Coltrane and the other by Archie Shepp.

 

The year 1966 saw the release of the albums Kulu Se Mama and Meditations, Coltrane's last recordings to appear during his lifetime, though he had finished and approved release for his next album, Expression, the Friday before his death in July 1967. He died suddenly of liver cancer, entering the hospital on a Sunday and expiring in the early morning hours of the next day. He had left behind a considerable body of unreleased work that came out in subsequent years, including "Live" at the Village Vanguard Again! (1967), Om (1967), Cosmic Music (1968), Selflessness (1969), Transition (1969), Sun Ship (1971), Africa/Brass, Vol. 2 (1974), Interstellar Space (1974), and First Meditations (For Quartet) (1977), all on Impulse!

 

 Compilations and releases of archival live recordings brought him a series of Grammy nominations, including Best Jazz Performance for the Atlantic album The Coltrane Legacy in 1970; Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for "Giant Steps" from the Atlantic album Alternate Takes in 1974; and Best Jazz Performance, Group, and Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Afro Blue Impressions in 1977. He won the 1981 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist, for Bye Bye Blackbird, an album of recordings made live in Europe in 1962, and he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, 25 years after his death.

 

Even more previously unreleased material has surfaced since then, including the discovery of the Monk and Coltrane live concert At Carnegie Hall and a complete version of his 1966 Seattle concert, Offering: Live at Temple University. The saxophonist was also the subject of director John Scheinfeld's acclaimed 2017 film Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary. In 2018, Impulse! released Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, an archival release documenting a previously unheard session from 1963. The next year brought another unreleased album, Blue World, which dated from a June 1964 session recorded in between the sessions for Crescent and A Love Supreme.

John Coltrane is sometimes described as one of jazz's most influential musicians, and certainly there are other artists whose playing is heavily indebted to him. Perhaps more to the point, Coltrane is influential by example, inspiring musicians to experiment, take chances, and devote themselves to their craft. The controversy about his work has never died down, but partially as a result, his name lives on and his recordings continue to remain available and to be reissued frequently.