One of my favorite jazz musicians ever (and of course I’m not the only one).  What I love about Coltrane is how searching and powerful his playing was.  When you hear his solos, it just feels like he is reaching for some unattainable plateau and pushing the limits of the sax.  His work can be incredibly forceful and fast (such as in “Giant Steps”) or hypnotically elegant (check out “In a Sentimental Mood”… my wife’s favorite jazz song).  His masterpiece, A Love Supreme, is powerful musical meditation rightly considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.  I love the last track “Psalm” where he voices a prayer through his saxophone (the words of which are in the liner notes.)

This painting was the third in series of musician portraits I have been working on for several years.  The idea is to show the musician realistically, and then paint the background in an abstract way that somehow expresses their musical style visually.  Blue is the main color that comes to mind for me with Coltrane.  The crazy little scribble going across the piece is supposed to show how intricate some of his playing was, while the curvy thick blue line is trying to show that feeling of searching as it reaches towards the light.

If you’ve never listened to John Coltrane, you owe it yourself to give him a listen.  Here’s a few of his best songs…

Here are the first two paintings from my musicians series… Miles Davis and B.B. King.  They were done entirely in ink.  Miles is another one of my top jazz favorites… the epitome of cool.   And B.B. is just the classic elder statesman of the blues.  I would love to see him live while he’s still touring.  We ate at his restaurant in Memphis one time, but unfortunately he was not playing that night.