Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest

by Eric Nisenson

Book Overview

"Ascension is as spellbinding as Coltrane's music."--The New Review of Records

"This remarkable book traces the development of Coltrane's music as it moved from hard bop to the freest jazz. . . . Informed and convincing, Ascension belongs on the short list of essential music books . . ."--Lang Thompson, Option

"Nisenson . . . presents us with a sensitive and vivid portrait of Coltrane as he progressed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306806444
• ISBN13: 9780306806445
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent biographical Sketch.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable brief biographical and analytical sketch of John Coltrane's development from a good sideman to the most influential jazz musician of his era. Coltrane's intensity and his approach to his art is wonderfully portrayed. There are anecdotes from various performances and recording sessions as well as brief forays into his personal life and struggles with addiction. Nisenson writes with the appropriate level of reverence for a man who has given so much through his music and includes numerous quotes from other musicians ,especially Miles Davis on Coltrane and what made him unique. My only complaint is the book is too short. I finished it wanting more.

ALONE IN THE HOUSE WITH COLTRANE

ALONE IN THE HOUSE WITH COLTRANE -for eric nissenson Lift the music into your own life. Reggie Workman says, I used to follow John like you would follow the sun. I'm listening. The dogs are here. How can I be alone? The clarinetist Don Byron says, If a cat is taking risks at a moment, years later you can still hear the edge of it. I'm looking at all that gold paint Rex put everywhere-in Coltrane's shirt and in the saxophone itself. Four song titles in gold criss-cross their way through four bronze portraits of Coltrane. The seeker is always alone. Rex knew he was going back to Arkansas when he gave me this painting. There's as much music in the story as there is in the music. I had a couple of pieces and went with them. They got mixed in with other stuff. Some of it was right. It helped take me down the road. The tree pruner knocks on my door. We talk about the Sweet Gum Tree overlooking the Garden Room in the front yard. Stems blow out of phase in old trees like this. Blowing in and rebounding, instances of the giant limbs pulling apart under strong forces are rare. Support at the extremities moves them where they want to move. Do you know Coltrane? I ask. Not personally, he says. I pull a notebook from the back pocket of my jeans. Coltrane follows the line to see what it will bear, He adds drummers and saxophones, as well as bells, to be limbs and branches, to see what will happen in wind. "You turn those trees into music," I say. No way. I'm a climber. I've been looking at your tree. It's been taken care of, I can go anywhere in that tree I need to be in the wind. When I'm in a tree I'm searching for those underlying principles- the bones underneath it all. The pruner knows the story without knowing the music. I grew up in a house with no rules. I needed limits. Vibrations and harmonies cross-platforms to growing things. I know the language of jazz and trees. My wife doesn't. She thinks it's elevator music. I walk him in the house, show him Rex's painting of Love Supreme. I'm astounded by the length of time I rested here, in a lazy mix of myth and story. Dear Eric, Your book arrives first, but Simpkins' is the life I am looking for. At first I think he's enough. I love the way he opens up the story through voice alone, introducing Coltrane and the players like family at a holiday meal. Impeccable manners and intimate talk. It's the story the way my mother might tell it, positive and straight to God. I mark your Kesey story in the Preface as one I'll share with friends. I still think I have what I need in the story Rex is an artist and teacher. Early 30's. My friend. He painted murals of black history in Yakima on community walls for ten years before going back to Arkansas this summer. The tree pruner shows up at my door. Your book thrills me. ascension. Baseball, Jesus Seminar, Textual criticism. Three sources and the truth will set us free. No compromises. The conversation Coltrane would have chosen to have. The one no one

Trane's Effect

I'm what I guess, a Trane enthusiast who gobbles up anything to read with the name Coltrane in it, always less critical with what I've read, perhaps only allowing for disappointment. I have always found Nisenson's books enjoyable to read, as you will find this one. His information, passion and experience connecting stories only furthered my understanding of John Coltrane's ability to affect so many, in so many ways explanable and unexplanable! Buy It! You won't be disappointed!

Thoughtful approach

Too often the words written about the career of John Coltrane lapse into idolatry or overanalysis. Biographies by J.C. Thomas and Cuthbert Simpkins lack a sense of critical judgment, while Bill Cole's work is fine for the musician but difficult for the lay listener. Frank Kofsky's "Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music," meanwhile, attempted to put Coltrane's music in a political framework he never intended.Eric Nisenson's "Ascension," refreshingly, focuses on Coltrane's music, attempting to understand not only where it came from but also the extent of its influence on jazz since the saxophonist's death in 1967. Nisenson is clearly a fan of the music, but to his credit, his admiration does not cloud his critical judgment.One important accomplishment of Nisenson's book is to establish a context for Coltrane's creativity and his late-life forays into free jazz. He revisits Coltrane's early life in North Carolina, where he grew up in relatively comfortable surroundings, exposed to the music of the church and of his father, a tailor and amateur musician. Nisenson also emphasizes Coltrane's early apprenticeships with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, Cleanhead Vinson and his time in Philadelphia, a hothouse of jazz playing that produced many an important contemporary, including Lee Morgan, Benny Golson and Jimmy Heath. In addition, Nisenson thoroughly explores Coltrane's important time with Miles Davis, during which he mastered not only his chordal approach but also the modal approach to music and improvisation that Miles took on with "Kind of Blue." And he thoroughly documents Trane's later interest in the Eastern, African and other world music, which strongly influenced many of his albums as a leader.In fact, Nisenson's attention to the searching quality of Coltrane's mind and his music generates the key theme of the book: that the saxophonist's greatness was derived not only from his musical mastery but from his unceasing search for new modes of expression. It was this search, Nisenson argues, that ultimately led Coltrane to embrace the avant-garde experiments undertaken by younger musicians such as Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and Pharaoh Sanders in the last few years of his life.Nisenson does not downplay the courage required of Coltrane to push the limits of his music long after his fame had been established, and he could have played it safe, but neither does he shy away from being critical of some of the musician's later cacophonous efforts. The sole criticism I have of the book is that it seems to reach the conclusion that since Coltrane, Miles and Ornette Coleman, there has been little in the way of true creativity on the jazz scene. A response would require another review, but suffice it to say that I disagree; that the current jazz scene may be more fragmented, and undoubtedly many musicians are playing it safe, but also that there are many young and older jazz musicians making very creative music on small labels.That aside, this is a ve

The best critical biography focused on Coltrane's music.

Not a replacement for the classics focused on Coltrane's personal life, nor a complete exploration of the relationship between Muslim militancy and 'Trane's music, but easily the best, most holistic treatment of the musical and sociological/spiritual factors working through Coltrane's music. In addition to being the best-written book on Coltrane's *music* (rather than focusing on his personal life), brief excursions exploring other significant figures (not just the likes of Miles and Ornette but people like Sun Ra and Albert Ayler) place Coltrane's ground-breaking and timeless work into perspective