John Coltrane, a creative obsessive with pop appeal

the-tls.co.uk

36 pointsmagda_wang3 comments

Coltrane was a towering genius, and I don't think a month has gone by in 2 decades when I haven't listened to something of his, but 'pop appeal'? I think not.

The assertion is adequately justified in the very first paragraph.

> The sight of wall-sized adverts for John Coltrane’s Both Directions At Once at train stations across the UK and its peak position of number fifteen in the album charts last summer became something of a story.

A "rediscovered treasure" news story briefly propelling an album into the lower ranks of UK charts hardly justifies it. When A Love Supreme was released kids were listening to The Beatles, not modal jazz. And not one in a thousand would have heard of Giant Steps.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com