John Coltrane is, without a doubt, my favorite tenor saxophone player of all time, and one of the most incredible musicians on any instrument, in any style, for my money. Any chance to go deeper into his life story and learn more about the man behind the music is not something to miss. Courtesy of this Masters of American Music segment on Coltrane, we're brought along for a ride through some of the musical milestones that defined this legendary musician's career. From Trane's birth in North Carolina to his early days playing with Navy bands, to later years coming up in Philadephia, the The World According to John Coltrane until the late '40s was much like any other aspiring professional musician. Sideman engagements with bigger names like Dizzy Gillespie and Earl Bostic ensured that Trane would be noticed, and he was eventually to become part of the seminal quintet led by Miles Davis, featuring Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Joe Jones on drums. The solos Coltrane plays on these Prestige recording sessions show a solid mastery of bop, plus a tinge of the flowing, arpeggiated style that would mark his later work. Masters of American Music: The World According to John Coltrane doesn't feature enough of the music from this period, probably because many of the interviews recorded for the film reference Trane's later development as an artist. Jimmy Heath and Wayne Shorter speak on camera about the boundless depths of Coltrane's curiosity and the amount of time he spent playing the horn, developing what Shorter refers to as the muscle memory required to play at such an extremely high technical level.

The World According to John Coltrane moves quickly through the periods with Miles and Thelonius Monk, touching on Coltrane's solo work up to the album "Giant Steps," where he planted a flag before departing for more adventurous musical territories. The meat of the film is in exploring Coltrane's productive period in the '60s for Impulse records, arguably a great body of work. Alice Coltrane, who married John Coltrane in 1966 after playing with the band for some time previously, is interviewed by phone but not on film. Players like Jimmy Garrison spend some time on camera, but others like Elvin Jones or McCoy Tyner are absent. An obvious choice after Alice Coltrane would have been Ravi Coltrane, but he isn't featured or mentioned in any way during the film. Considering that Trane's Impulse records are his most modern, we would have preferred to hear more interviews for added context, but the chance to watch Coltrane on film is pretty special. Extended versions of "My Favorite Things" and a segment with Eric Dolphy playing "Impressions" rounds out some abbreviated clips that show the emotionally charged nature of the music. Coltrane's connection to the civil rights movement is referenced, along with video of a studio performance of "Alabama" that brings chills. His exploration of world music is tied back to a rabid curiosity that saxophonist Jimmy Heath illustrates with a story about going to the public library with Coltrane to listen to Stravinsky, because Charlie Parker had at one point carried around scores from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite with him.

Trying to sum up a musical life as dense as the one John Coltrane lived in less than an hour is almost impossible, but Masters of American Music: The World According to John Coltrane does a decent job. We can point to many areas that needed more exposure, but few that we'd take out if given the chance. Ending the film with a performance by Roscoe Mitchell comes across as a weird touch; not that we don't have the utmost respect for Mitchell and his accomplishments, but this is titled The World According to John Coltrane, after all. Most performers attempting to channel Coltrane fail miserably, because his music wasn't the product of tricks or showmanship. He was capable of honking and walking the bar, as we learn from his early history with bands that wanted their tenor players in the mold of Illinois Jacquet, but he translated this energy into something more meditative and transcendental. Whether you subscribe to the more spiritual aspects of Coltrane's life or not, you'll find a lot to appreciate in this film. There's a bias toward showcasing material from the latter half of Coltrane's career, and no surprise since this is also the best looking video, best sounding audio, and easiest to source. If we got our wish for more in-depth interviews and coverage from a wide swathe of Coltrane's career, The World According to John Coltrane would swell from one hour to three or four. What's here is solid, and required viewing for anyone trying to understand the immense influence Coltrane had on jazz, and saxophonists across all musical forms.