Sax on the Web Forum banner

New John Coltrane Documentary Chasing Trane.

15K views 99 replies 52 participants last post by  BigBen23 
#1 ·
Saw it yesterday in Portland OR. A Beautiful film. Extremely moving and inspiring. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I see most of the criticism focuses on the following:

1. Not enough extended clips of JC playing.
Disagree. The soundtrack is exclusively John Coltrane's music from curtain to curtain and they cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. The full tracks are available through all the usual sources.

2. The use of Bill Clinton as a interview subject.
I thought his comments were heartfelt, to the point and valuable within the context of the film. For those who hate the guy and everything about him - there's nothing I can say to you other than you might want to just avoid the film entirely because his comments are used multiple times.

My verdict - film makes me proud to play one of these machines and of my attempts to try and say something through it.

And it gives me a deeper appreciation of the inspirations, challenges and triumphs of a magnificent artist - John Coltrane.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Hey thanks for this info, pdxdoug. I'm definitely going to check out this film! Sounds great. Glad to hear there's a good sound track and also that Bill Clinton's comments are included. Most politicians have no idea who Trane was or care. Not to mention the fact that a film like this needs more promotion. This is the first I've heard of it. Thanks again for highlighting it.
 
#3 ·
Lots of new interviews with JC's living contemporaries. Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter. Folks who knew him as a person and who played with him.
 
#10 ·
I saw the film and think it is a good but not great movie. It might work better as a tv documentary. Two and a half stars.If you want to see it you better step on it, films like this don't stay around long. At the theater I went to there were only about eight people there and no young people. Ironic, as there's a lot of musicians that live around here.
 
#11 ·
I saw the film and think it is a good but not great movie. It might work better as a tv documentary. Two and a half stars.
After watching the trailer, I decided not to go out of my way to see this. Looked like it would simply be a compendium of 'talking heads' proclaiming the usual stuff a lot of us already know; for the music, I already have the recordings. I'm sure it would be interesting and educational for anyone who knows little about Trane, but how many of those people will even be aware of this movie? Still, I'm glad someone put it together and you're right, it's best use might be as a TV documentary. Even better would be an American Master's documentary on Coltrane that delves into his life and music at a fairly deep level (unfortunately, I doubt we'll see that anytime soon).

Big caveat: I haven't seen the movie (aside from the short trailer) so please don't take this in any way as a review. Just saying I'm not surprised at Tom's statements after having seen that trailer.
 
#13 ·
JL,

Your standards are higher than mine. Which is fine.

I didn't expect the secrets of the saxophone revealed to me. Don't think such a film really exists or ever will. I just enjoyed hearing the tale of JC's life, supported by wall to wall JC music with interviews from those living witnesses who knew him and played with him. For that alone, I am thankful.

There is precious little of this beautiful American art form in the theatrical film format so I'm very appreciative of the filmmakers and their passion in bringing this project - clearly a labor of love - to the screen.
 
#15 ·
JL,

Your standards are higher than mine. Which is fine.

I didn't expect the secrets of the saxophone revealed to me. Don't think such a film really exists or ever will. I just enjoyed hearing the tale of JC's life, supported by wall to wall JC music with interviews from those living witnesses who knew him and played with him. For that alone, I am thankful.

There is precious little of this beautiful American art form in the feature film format so I'm very appreciative of the filmmakers and their passion in bringing this project - clearly a labor of love - to the screen.
Actually, I doubt my standards are any higher than yours. I agree with everything you said here, and you actually saw the film! (see my caveat) I was mostly reacting to the trailer, which as Rackety says is probably not the best representation of the movie. I'll definitely try to get to see this. And again, thanks for pointing it out.
 
#24 ·
man, I missed both movies.
Price of having 2 young ones at home...

gonna my eyes peeled for any of the streaming services or bluray

The Lee Morgan one does seem very appealing, especially since I know so little about him.

I read A LOT about Coltrane in high school and college, but I would still love to see anything done well about him. It does not have to be revelatory. It's not like we unearthed a new Coltrane pyramid and found new a cache of music and photos...
 
#26 ·
saw it today. learned a lot, even if a lot of influences (Dolphy, Gilmore) and important works are not even mentioned. hopefully this will eventually reach the audience of serious students and younger sophisticates that might be best served by this sincere introduction to one remarkable man's spiritual journey.
 
#28 ·
hopefully this will eventually reach the audience of serious students and younger sophisticates that might be best served by this sincere introduction to one remarkable man's spiritual journey.
I guess I should see it for myself, but is this about his music or his 'spiritual journey?' Maybe you can't really separate them, but I'm far more interested in his music...than to hear a lot of 'spiritual' speculation.
 
#30 ·
I got to see it and enjoyed the clips of Jimmy Heath and Benny Golson talking about him.
There must be something about playing sax if you make it as long as they have. Both are still sharp as a tack. I've got an older sax player friend locally who is 89 and the same way. He's forgotten more tunes than I'll ever learn.
Hoping to see the Lee Morgan documentary next week at the local museum.
 
#35 ·
Great movie, saw it in a small theater in Eugene with my trio at the time. Wonderful interviews. I wish it could've been a lot longer with more interviews. I wasn't looking for incite into the mysteries of playing saxophone/ jazz, just a look into the life, motivation, and mark left by of one of the all-time greats. Well made and inspiring film.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top