Meet the Author: Ben Ratliff, Mon 1/14/08

By Bert Gambini, WBFO

Buffalo, NY – Ben Ratliff - Coltrane: The Story of a Sound

Monday, January 14th at 7 p.m.
Allen Hall Theatre, UB South Campus

Click here to buy the book.

Ratliff, the jazz critic for the New York Times, isn't interested in simply retelling the biographical facts of John Coltrane's life. Instead, he analyzes how the saxophone player came to be regarded as the last major figure in the evolution of jazz, tracing both the evolution of his playing style and the critical reception to it. The first half of this study concentrates on Coltrane's career, from his early days as a semianonymous sideman to his final, increasingly experimental recordings, while the second half explores the growth of Coltrane's legacy after his death. Ratliff has a keen sense of Coltrane's constantly changing sound, highlighting the collaborative nature of jazz by discussing the bands he played in as both sideman and leader.

Click the "listen" icon above to hear Meet the Author now, or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.