After Hours

John Coltrane. Alabama

Here we have a nice clip from the show Jazz Casual from 1963. This is the year Coltrane finally came into his own. He was clear of Miles Davis and he had a kickass rhythm section (Tyner, Garrison and Jones) behind him. It's true that Coltrane wasn't the most charismatic guy on the planet, but you have to give up certain things to become a monster player. Miles Davis gave up contact with the rest of humanity. Bud Powell gave up his sanity. Coltrane only sacrificed charisma - and the ability to play soprano saxophone well. That was a pretty good trade-off.