Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

Great background. I hadn't done much research on the man in the past; just loved the music. This gave me some great insight of the life of a genius.

Excellent

This is so excellent! Really well documents the life and amazing music of a Jazz giant.

Because the subject of this outstanding work was a man of few words I shall respect that and not spend time recounting its content. The music itself, which is ever present throughout the film, suffices, and the film is technically accomplished. I will say also, that it gets a good balance between the professional and the personal, between the music and its background with plenty of insightful comments from a range of family members, musicians, and writers. The inappropriate and silly comment about the inclusion of Bill Clinton should be ignored. His contribution is well worth hearing. For any one interested in any way in the life and work of a great artist, this documentary is essential and a credit to all concerned in its making.

Some of the reviewers have criticised Chasing Trane for being a bit fawning and for having interviews with non-jazz identities such as Bill Clinton. As a John Coltrane fan, I found it to be highly informative. One glaring omission as far as interviews go is Pharoah Sanders. Given that Sanders was such a striking - and I think influential - presence on Coltrane's later spiritually intense works I'm surprised that he wasn't included. His insights would have been fascinating. Still - recommended.

Coltrane...What else needs to be said!

I first saw this in a theater, and was moved to tears. There was a gentleman sitting near me, and when I spotted him outside I saw that he too was crying. Coltrane has that kind of impact on people's lives. This documentary captures that.

I loved everything about this movie because even though i praise John Coltrane the man and musician, other sources compare him as some kind of diety. In my opinion his truth in sound and spirit was enough.

Bom demais!

Sehr lohnend für alle die mehr über den Gigant des Jazz erfahren wollen.

A must for jazz fans, jazz historians, musicologists and anyone who likes a good story.

Excellent !

This is not a comprehensive overview of John Coltrane’s life, career or musical development, but it does highlight some of the pivotal moments and give some personal accounts and insights.Whilst I understand that Wynton Marsalis possesses great technical ability and had a very good understanding of some areas of (almost exclusively American) jazz, he does not really bring much of this to bear on the subject of John Coltrane here. Carlos Santana is even more opaque; he speaks in quasi “mystical” riddles: “John Coltrane changes molecular structures. When people hear that they say What?” Whilst it is nice to hear the importance of Coltrane’s music to Santana he doesn’t offer any real insights into his music.The are some great contributions from Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins among others. There is also, just enough insight into his personal life to give background to his musical development but not at the expense of highlighting the music. The breakdown of his first marriage was referred to in an an interview with Naima’s daughter. S talks about hearing an argument getting louder and louder, then “..hearing every word...” before he left. Saeeda clearly has a much greater insight into what went wrong with that relationship but she is not pressed on this and I am very grateful that this is left alone.This may leave a lot of the great man unexplored but what you get is largely excellent and I recommend it to any Coltrane fan.