John William Coltrane ( September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
Though he was active before 1955, his prime years were between 1955 and 1967, during which time he reshaped modern jazz and influenced successive generations of other musicians. Coltrane's recording rate was astonishingly prolific, such that many albums did not appear until years after they were recorded.
He is regarded as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians, and one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century. Along with tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Sonny Rollins, Coltrane fundamentally altered expectations for the instrument.
Born in Hamlet, North Carolina, Coltrane grew up in High Point in an era of racial segregation. During his seventh-grade school year, Coltrane experienced three deaths in his close-knit family; he lost his aunt, his grandfather, and his father. Coltrane began playing music and practicing obsessively at about this time.
His early life was influenced by a traditional Southern upbringing; the heavy emphasis on religion especially affected his later musical career. Coltrane began playing clarinet early on, but became interested in jazz and soon switched to alto saxophone. Coltrane moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in June 1943, and was inducted into the Navy in 1945, where he played in a Hawaii-based Navy band, returning to civilian life in 1946. At this time, he had brief contacts with Charlie Parker, who became a dominant influence on his playing.
Coltrane worked at a variety of jobs in the late 1940s until he joined Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1949 as an alto saxophonist. He stayed with Gillespie through the big band's breakup in May 1950 and switched to tenor saxophone during his subsequent spell in Gillespie's small group, staying until April 1951, when he returned to Philadelphia.