In the April 12th 1962 edition of DownBeat magazine, publisher Don DeMichael gave John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy an opportunity to answer their critics. DeMichael and Coltrane were already correspondants. For example, in June the same year DeMichael received a letter from Trane thanking him for sending a copy of the Aaron Copland book 'Music and Imagination'. In the same letter he also mentioned reading a book on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, and that wonderful and persistent force - the creative urge. Trane was identifying more with the artist Van Gogh, than the musician and composer Copland. This criticism, and the reaction is further explored in my previous blog - John Coltrane's 1963 . Needless to say, we got (at least) the albums 'Ballads', 'Duke Ellington & John Coltrane' and 'John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman' as a result. John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy Answer the Jazz Critics JOHN COLTRANE has been the center of critical controversy ev
Jamo Spingal