John Coltrane

John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He was among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Coming to prominence with the legendary Miles Davis Quintet in 1955, then Thelonious Monk in 1957, and back to Miles for historic recordings with Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans, Coltrane recorded extensively for Atlantic and Impulse! Records, launching his first quartet in 1960. In this clip we hear Walkin' with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb:

His "Classic Quartet" in 1962, with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones set him in the mainstream, with commercial successes like My Favorite Things, Ballads and A Love Supreme.  His subsequent explorations of a more avant-garde style were cut sho0rt by his untimely death in 1967.  He was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1965.  He was awarded posthumous Grammy in1982 and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.