The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.
JOHN COLTRANEThe first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.
JOHN COLTRANEChange is inevitable in music – things change.
JOHN COLTRANEI’d like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls.
JOHN COLTRANEMy music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being.
JOHN COLTRANEWorking with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft.
JOHN COLTRANEI 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 COLTRANEI think the majority of musicians are interested in truth.
JOHN COLTRANEThe 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 COLTRANEAll a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.
JOHN COLTRANEI 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 COLTRANEAny time you play your horn, it helps you. If you get down, you can help yourself even in a rock ‘n’ roll band.
JOHN COLTRANEI want to be the force which is truly for good.
JOHN COLTRANEThere are so many things to be considered in making music. The whole question of life itself… I know that I want to produce beautiful music, music that does things to people that they need.
JOHN COLTRANEMy 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.
JOHN COLTRANEI’ve always felt that even though a man was not a Christian, he still has to know the truth some way or another. Or if he was a Christian, he could know the truth. The truth itself doesn’t have any name on it to me. And each man has to find this for himself, I think.
JOHN COLTRANEMy 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