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Jazz/Blues

Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong and the Search for Musical Expression and Self

A lot of jazz aficinados even find John Coltrane hard to listen to. His volcanic torrent of notes, pushing hard to escape from his saxophone, can overwhelm even the most liberal minded of listeners. This upheavel was Coltrane's attempt to purge his soul and gain a synesthesia with his subconscious. Miles Davis turmoil was also present on the very surface of his music, skimming off the top, exposing raw nerve. Unlike Coltrane, Davis was calculating about what he was exposing in his search. He was careful, guarded and mistrustful. Louis Armstrong completes the triangle. No outward agenda, at least musically speaking, Armstrong was the shaman. Only if you were paying attention did you see his self, the abandoned orphan looking for a mother figure through musical expression.
By Thomas Swan