John Coltrane took jazz as far as it ever
reached before his death in 1967. He remains a touchstone for young musicians
and the subject of many books. The latest, by New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff, is true to its name. The Story of a Sound isn’t a compendium
of anecdotes about the saxophonist’s life, but a thoughtful chronicle of his
beginnings in 1940s bebop through his journey into the sonic unknown. Ratliff
balances sharp critical insight on the tip of prose so beautifully descriptive,
it’s almost music in its own right. He is also strong on cultural context. In
Coltrane’s day, jazz was mysterious, countercultural, even scary, not merely
the niche market of nowadays.
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