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JOHN COLTRANE TRIVIA II

11) What instrument did Coltrane experiment with toward the end of his career?


After Eric Dolphy died in June 1964, his mother gave Coltrane his flute, and towards the end of his career, he experimented with the instrument in his live performances and studio recordings.

12) Which Coltrane composition was written in response to a Ku Klux Klan attack on a Baptist church?


"Alabama" appears on the album Live at Birdland (1963). It was written in response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963, an attack by the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four African-American girls.

13) Coltrane's father was a _______.


His father, John R. Coltrane, worked as a tailor but also had a passion for music and played several instruments.

14) Who gave Coltrane his first saxophone?


After moving to Philadelphia in 1943, his mother bought him his first saxophone, an alto.

15) Coltrane was the first artist to sign with which record label?


Coltrane became the first artist to sign with the new Impulse! Records when it bought out his Atlantic contract in April 1961. He would record for the label until the end of his life, and his success earned Impulse! a reputation as "The House That Trane Built".

16) Who did Coltrane name his son Ravi after?


Coltrane's middle son was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar.

17) What song did Coltrane write for his first wife?


"Naima" is a ballad that he named after his wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. It first appeared on the album Giant Steps and is notable for its use of a variety of rich chords over a bass pedal. It is mainly made up of a slow, restrained melody, though there is also a brief piano solo.

18) What kind of cancer took John Coltrane's life?


Near the end of his life, Coltrane endured stomach pains for several weeks, but refused to see a doctor. He finally entered the hospital for treatment and died of liver cancer just a few days later on July 17, 1967.

19) What posthumous award did John Coltrane receive?


He received many posthumous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (2007), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), and canonization by the African Orthodox Church.

20) How many of the six tracks on Live at Birdland were recorded live?


Despite its title, only the first three tracks were recorded live at the Birdland club; the rest are studio tracks.

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