Rimeiko Lyles rkl2114@columbia.edu Research Paper Professor Kevin Fellezs African-American Music 12/16/14 By definition, the literary genre known as Jazz poetry is directly inspired by a jazz musician and/or the jazz music itself. Naturally, jazz poetry embodies many similar characteristics that Jazz music represents such as a variety of rhythms, forms, and tones. Jazz poetry has served as a channel for commentary and expression of jazz music itself since the inception of jazz and blues at the beginning of the 20th century straight through memorable periods such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat movement, and the Black Arts Movement. Jazz poets have drawn upon the personal lives and work of Jazz musicians …show more content…
John Coltrane, born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, NC, is widely considered one of the most influential and important musicians of the 20th century. His influence reshaped modern jazz and many other genres because of his musical virtuosity, variety of style, and dedication to his craft. Along with other Jazz greats like Sonny Rollins, Coltrane essentially changed the way saxophonists play the instrument through his massive influence on mainstream and avant-garde jazz. Nevertheless, Coltrane’s virtuoso performances not only affected jazz musicians and listeners, it also affected the American poetry community in a profound way. Coltrane is easily the most referred to Jazz musician in American poetry. This is made evident from a quote by Sascha Feinstein stating, “Coltrane has probably been the focus of more poems than any other jazz musician, but the portraits of the man and his music vary as much as his own creative endeavors – from bebop and modal music, to hard bop and sheets of sound, and eventually to free jazz” (Feinstein 1991, xix). He is so often referred to in American poetry that he has inspired a unique genre of poetry known as the “Coltrane Poem”. The “Coltrane Poem” is recognized as a genre not only among African-American poets, …show more content…
They used the aggressive sound of Coltrane’s music as a catalyst for the aggressive views and attitude that the Black Nationalist movement of the 60’s and 70’s were all about. Although it is quite likely as a black man and musician that Coltrane supported the Black Nationalist’s ideas of equality, blending his music with these ideas can be seen as taking Coltrane’s music out of context. Coltrane was one of the most spiritually minded jazz musicians of the 20th century, but the poets that used his image for political purposes did not fully represent Coltrane’s true nature. The poems like the one in the liner notes of the A Love Supreme album and “Dear John, Dear Coltrane” are more accurate depictions of what Coltrane and his music were essentially trying to represent. The remarkable thing about Coltrane’s music is it’s timeless quality and even in today’s age his music still manages to inspire and impact poets and musicians around the