Great Music to Drive by ...

I can still remember the VERY first time I heard John Coltrane ... It was back in the fall of 1990, I was a student at Queen's University, living in residence at Harkness Hall ... It was a rainy Saturday ... I was crashed on one couch in common room on our floor, while a Newfoundland Law student was crashed on the other ... we were discussing something mundane while listening to the sound of the rain falling outside ... Suddenly the first haunting notes of Coltrane's brilliant rendition of "My Favourite Things" resounded across the quad from the wing of the residence rooms opposite our common room.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Coltrane," said Geoff excitedly, as he jumped up and headed to the window to see who was playing the cd ... "Phil's playing Coltrane!" he exclaimed as he headed for the door.

"Who's Coltrane?" I asked rising and following him out the door and down the hall to Phil's dorm room and to my first exposure to the music that IS John Coltrane.

The next weekend I headed down Princess Street to purchase my copy of Coltrane's seminal album - "My Favourite Things," which remains one of my absolute favourite CDs ... and since then in fits and spurts I have picked up other Coltrane recordings, but the library of what I DON'T is still larger than the library of what I DO have ... but I cherish each Coltrane Album, and savour the opportunity to sit and let his sax wash over me like a warm wave ...

Yesterday while browsing at McNally Robinson Bookseller in Winnipeg I came across Coltrane's "One Down, One Up: Live At The Half Note" in the "clearance section" of their music corner ... There were a couple of other Coltrane's including "My Favourite Things", but I selected "One Down, One Up" as my purchase ... after all, my Birthday IS coming up ... I would have loved to get the new 5 disc set of the Prestige Recordings to go with last year's 6 disc set "Fearless Leader" ... but I saved that for another day ...

So last night, on a dark and rainy night, driving home to Minnedosa from Winnipeg I popped the first disc into the van's cd player and just let his melodious tones fill the night with the depth and breadth of Jazz that only Coltrane and his peeps can manage ...

I personally can't think of a better musician to offer as a soundtrack for a rainy night time drive across the prairie of Manitoba than Coltrane ... if one exists, I haven't found him/her yet ... For now I'll just enjoy the time I can spend in the presence of one of the best ...