Sax Summit on Trane

Michael Brecker:I became concsious of Coltrane when I went to a record store with a friend. I bought two records: Trane's "Live At Birdland" and one by Dizzy that initially I liked better. Coltrane sounded abrasive. But I continuted to listen and to get into the sound of his saxophone and the intensity of the music. Gradually I began to veiw what he was doing in a different way. His sax didn't sound abrasive anymore. The door swung open.

I bought more of his albums and slowly began to understand what they were doing with the music, especially in the modal fashion that I had never heard up to that time. I becam fascinated with McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones as well.

Eventually I had the opportunity to hear Coltrane live a couple of years later at Temple University, It was a memorable evening. Recently Ravi Coltrane gave me a copy of that performance that had been broadcast live on the radio. The recording lived up to the memory. Coltrane was in great form and Pharoah Saners was killig. It was largely a group improvisation.

I remember the audience was mystified. There were people walking on and off the stage, picking up instruments. There were percussion instruments all over. At one point I remember Pharoah and Coltrane beating their chests and screaming. That freaked me out. I didn't know what to make of it. Where I was sitting, I couldn't hear what was spoken but on the recording, you can hear Coltrane singing these really beauftiful intervallic melodies.

The power and mystery and spirituality in Cltran's music inspired me. I had never heard that before. That was enough to propel me to choose music as my life's endeavor.

Joe Lovano: My introduction to Coltrane was my dad talking about him. In the early 50's, he had played in a jam session with him in Cleveland. Coltrane was on alto sax and Benny Golson was alos in the band. From that time on, my dad followed Cotrane's career. I grew up listening to Coltrane on my dad's records. "Soultrane" was one of the first I listened to and studied. That was the record--the tunes and the way he played.

I never saw Coltrane live. When he passed away I was in the ninth grade. I remember the radio station in Cleveland did a 24 hour tribute to him. My dad taped it all on a reel-to-reel. I might still have those tapes in the basement!

After I came to New York, it wasn't long befgore I began to have relationships wih other people who worked with Coltrane, like Elvin and McCoy and most recently Hank Jones. I grew up with this mystical thing about Coltrane, but I knew he was a real cat because of my contact with people who knew him,.

David Liebman: I wouldn't be sitting here if it hadn't been for Coltrane. Inn 1961 when I was 15, I went to Birdland on a kind of first date. The Bill Evans Trio was playing opposite Coltane's quintet with Eric Dolphy on alto sax. I had no idea who Coatrane was. AlI knew was that he played soprano sax because I read about it in Downbeat. It was a Saturday night and nosy and I couldn't hear anything at first. Initially I wasn't into Coltrane. Then he sarted to play (what became) "My Favorite Things" and I thought; "Oh now, this is so corny." Well by the end of the night I was hooked. That first experience compelled me to see him anytime he played in New York. I was in high school so I'd go on Friday and Saturday night. The sets would go to 4AM.

I heard everything Coltarane did right up till the end. I followed his evolution. The main thing I got from Coltrane that remains with me today was his sincerity and conviction. He had no pretense when he played. I had never seen anything like it. He played so naturally as if he was doing something like washing his teeth. I was a young cat and had no idea what they were playing so I wasn't drawn so much by the technique, just the feeling, the vibe and power.

I met Coltrane once in a way. I knew Pharoah from the loft scene. I went by the Vanguard one night during the late Trane period with Alice and Rashied. I walked towards the bathroom and there they were playing flutes and clarinets and more. Pharoah said:"Hey man, you play flute. Right?" So for about ten seconds I played his flute, then quickly receded into the background.

Trane was standing against the wall and quiet. Someone aked him how the show was going. He said:"Well, it goes better at home than on the bandstand. He was shaking his head like he hadn't played well, yet to me they had all reached Nirvana onstage just a few mintues earlier.