This article presents the

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

(1926–1967).

Introduction

Coltrane participated in his first recording sessions while enlisted in the Navy from August 6, 1945, to August 11, 1946. He performed eight numbers in a pickup band that included trumpeter Dexter Culbertson. These were private recordings not made for official release. However, one track from the session, " Hot House", eventually appeared on the 1992 compilation '' The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology.'' There are conflicting sources as to whether he made his first professional recording session with

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

: Jazzdisco.org lists the session as September 27, 1949 in New York City, but Lewis Porter's ''John Coltrane: His Life and Music'' states that he was on tour with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band during that time. Most sources confirm that he recorded with Billy Valentine on November 7 in Los Angeles for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. In subsequent years, Coltrane sat in on recording sessions with Gillespie,

Johnny Hodges Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...

Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 – October 28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which h ...

, and Gay Crosse. In September 1955, Coltrane joined the

Miles Davis Quintet The Miles Davis Quintet was an American jazz band from 1955 to early 1969 led by Miles Davis. The quintet underwent frequent personnel changes toward its metamorphosis into a different ensemble in 1969. Most references pertain to two distinct and ...

and appeared on several

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

-led recordings, including ''

'Round About Midnight ''Round About Midnight'' is an album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis that was originally released by Columbia Records in March 1957. It was Davis' first album with Columbia. Background At the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, Davis performed the song ...

'' and ''

Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

''. He briefly joined

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

in May 1957, and their handful of recordings together have been collected on albums such as 1961's ''

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane ''Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane'' is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued a ...

''. In 1958, he rejoined Davis' band and stayed until April 1960; during that time he participated in the 1959 ''

Kind of Blue ''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Co ...

'' sessions. In April 1957, he signed a contract with

Prestige Records Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz music ...

; it is unclear if this was a two-year deal or a one-year contract plus a one-year option. Many of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige could be classified as "sideman" recordings and informal

jam sessions A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

(or "blowing sessions", in the then-current terminology). He also made his first albums as a group leader, including his 1957 debut, '' Coltrane''. That same year, Prestige allowed him to fulfill a promise that he would make an album for

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

, leading to 1957's '' Blue Train''. After Coltrane gained prominence in the early 1960s, Prestige reissued a number of Coltrane's sideman and jam sessions under his name to capitalize on his success. '' The Prestige Recordings'' collects all of Coltrane's recordings for Prestige with the exception of his sideman work with Davis. When his Prestige contract expired, Coltrane signed a two-year contract (one year, plus a one-year option) with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in April 1959. He was the leader of all of these sessions except ''

Bags & Trane ''Bags & Trane'' is an album credited to jazz musicians Milt Jackson and John Coltrane, released in 1961 on Atlantic Records, catalogue SD 1368. Taking its title from Jackson and Coltrane's nicknames, it is the only collaborative record by the ...

'' and ''

The Avant-Garde The Avant-Garde was an American psychedelic pop group formed by Chuck Woolery and Elkin "Bubba" Fowler in 1967. They released three singles on Columbia Records in 1967 and 1968, backed by different session musicians on each release: "Yellow Be ...

'', where he was featured with

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

and

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

respectively. Albums from this period include ''

Giant Steps ''Giant Steps'' is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader. It was released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, with which he had signed a new contract the previou ...

'' and '' My Favorite Things''. The ''

Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, thou ...

'' box collects his recordings for Atlantic, including all known outtakes. Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961. He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built". Albums from this final period include the live album '' Live at Birdland'', ''

A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Ga ...

'', and '' Ascension''. All of the companies Coltrane worked with during his lifetime have compiled and reissued his material. In addition, Impulse! has issued several previously unreleased live recordings, including '' Live in Japan'' and '' The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording''. Coltrane's concert, television and radio performances generated dozens of unauthorized and

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

Pablo Records Pablo Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Norman Granz in 1973, more than a decade after he had sold his earlier catalog (including Verve Records) to MGM Records. Pablo initially featured recordings by acts that Granz managed: ...

, a label that specializes in live recordings, purchased rights to several tapes of his performances, and is therefore considered a legitimate source despite never signing him to its label.

Studio albums

Prestige Records

Blue Note Records

Savoy Records

Atlantic Records

Impulse! Records

Live albums

Impulse! Records

Pablo Records

Miscellaneous Labels

Appearances

With Miles Davis

With Thelonious Monk

Other appearances

Singles

Compilation albums

Documentaries

* '' The World According to John Coltrane'' (1990) * '' The Church of Saint Coltrane'' (1996) * '' Trane Tracks: The Legacy of John Coltrane'' (2005) * '' Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary'' (2017)

Video albums

* ''John Coltrane: A True Innovator'' (2004) * ''Impressions of Coltrane'' (2007) * ''Chasing Trane- The John Coltrane Documentary'' (Impulse!, 2017)

Television

* ''

Jazz Casual ''Jazz Casual'' was an occasional series on jazz music on National Educational Television (NET), the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The show was produced by Richard Moore and KQED of San Francisco, California. Episodes ran ...

: John Coltrane'' (1963) * ''Imagine: Saint John Coltrane'' (2004)BBC One - imagine..
/ref>

Notes

External links

Jazz Discography Project
* Allmusic
John Coltrane Discography

Discogs

45cat

Sources

* ''Chasin' The Trane,'' J.C. Thomas. (1975, Doubleday) * ''John Coltrane: His Life and Music,'' Lewis Porter. (1998, University of Michigan Press) * ''Coltrane: The Story of a Sound,'' Ben Ratliff. (2007, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) * ''The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records,'' Ashley Kahn. (2006, W.W. Norton) {{DEFAULTSORT:Coltrane, John Jazz discographies

Discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

Discographies of American artists