I’ve been listening to a lot of John Coltrane lately. Are there other jazz artists similar to him? They don’t have to be a sax player, I’m more interested in the longer complex pieces that Coltrane did so well.
Perhaps Thelonious Monk.
Monk and Miles Davis are also musicians I enjoy.
Answers may vary depending on which period of Coltrane you’re listening to. This is by no means definitive or exhaustive and the years are approximate, but:
pre-1957: try Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Kenny Dorham – actually you’d probably enjoy just about anything on the Blue Note label from the mid-50s to about 1963. Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk too, of course.
1958-63: all of the above plus Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Oliver Nelson, and Ornette Coleman.
1964-: all of the above plus Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor.
It sorta depends which aspect of Coltrane you like. Similar to his mainstream playing, you might enjoy the Miles Davis 1st Quintet, which included Coltrane. The albums include Steamin’, Cookin’, Workin’ and Relaxin’. You might also be drawn to Sonny Rollins “Saxophone Collosus”, or some of Cannonball Adderley’s work. Wayne Shorter’s “Juju” and “Speak no Evil” were heavily influenced by Coltrane.
A little further afield would include Eric Dolphy (who played with Coltrane on the Village Vanguard dates of 1961; “Out to Lunch” is the strongest of his albums, IMHO), Charlie Mingus, Andrew Hill (“Point of Departure” is outstanding!). Miles Davis’ 2nd quintet (“Miles Smiles", “Nefertiti” and "Sorcerer”)
Getting into Free Jazz, there are musicians like Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor, very much along similar lines to some of the later John Coltrane. Bit wild for some people’s tastes, but a logical continuation of some of Coltrane’s ideas from “Ascension”.
By the way, do you know about the Traneumentary, a podcast available from iTunes? It’s 32 episodes focusing on specific albums and periods of his work, featuring interviews with musicians he worked with, and musicians who discuss his influence on them and others. Highly recommended.
I did not so I am going to download those right now.
The 1958-63 period is the one I’ve spent most of my time with lately. I’m certainly willing to spend more time with the avant garde period after that.
I also like listening to the earlier music as well. Sure, it is mainstream, but it is damn good mainstream.