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Considering the great heritage in music that we have - the work of the giants of the past, the present, and the promise of those who are to come - I feel that we have every reason to face the future optimistically.

John Coltrane

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John Coltrane
Age: 40 †
Born: 1926
Born: September 23
Died: 1967
Died: July 17
Bandleader
Composer
Conductor
Jazz Musician
Musician
Saxophonist
Hamlet
North Carolina
Trane
John William Coltrane
St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane
Come
Promise
Feel
Present
Feels
Face
Great
Faces
Work
Future
Optimistically
Every
Past
Considering
Music
Heritage
Reason
Giants

More quotes by John Coltrane

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I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.
John Coltrane
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All of the technique doesn't matter... only if the feeling is right.
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There is never any end... There are always new sounds to imagine new feelings to get at. And always, there is the need to keep purifying these feelings and sounds so that we can really see what we've discovered in its pure state.
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Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.
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I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing . . . the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood.
John Coltrane
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The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.
John Coltrane
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Whatever I'd say would be an understatement. I can only say my life was made much better by knowing him. He was one of the greatest people I've ever known, as a man, a friend, and a musician.
John Coltrane
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My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being...When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups...I want to speak to their souls.
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God breathes through us so completely...So gently we hardly feel it...yet it is our everything.
John Coltrane
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Starting in the middle of a musical sentence and moving in both directions at once.
John Coltrane
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Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before.
John Coltrane
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Jazz is a word they use to sell our music, but to me that word does not exist.
John Coltrane
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The reason I play so many sounds, maybe it sounds angry, is because I'm trying so many things at one time, you see? I haven't sorted them out. I have a whole bag of things that I'm trying to work through and get the one essential.
John Coltrane
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I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know there are bad forces. You know, I know that there are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.
John Coltrane
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Working with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft.
John Coltrane
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Damn the rules, it's the feeling that counts.
John Coltrane
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My goal is to live the truly religious life, and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there's no problem because the music is part of the whole thing. To be a musician is really something. It goes very, very deep. My music is the spiritual expression of what I am - my faith, my knowledge, my being.
John Coltrane
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Any time you play your horn, it helps you. If you get down, you can help yourself even in a rock 'n' roll band.
John Coltrane
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I think the majority of musicians are interested in truth.
John Coltrane
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All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.
John Coltrane