 Tribute to John Coltrane by Clifford Mosby Click on photos to watch video on RealVideo enabled browsers. My life was greatly effected by the music of John Coltrane. That is a fact. I have listened to his music ever since I first became aware of him at age 15. I am now 53. I have listened to his music almost every day of my life and certainly every week of my life. I cannot imagine that there has been seven days in a row, that has gone by without me having listened to either his music or that of Eric Dolphy. I have written poems about him and to him. I have painted portraits of him. I have awakened to his music, gone to sleep to his music, made love, eaten, exercised and fantasized to his music. I have always been intrigued with the sound as well as the structure of the straight soprano sax. Had the Pied Piper had a soprano sax, he would have cleansed Hamlin not only of its pest, but of its sins. Of the two horns Trane played, I sought out the tunes where he played soprano. I have always loved "miscellaneous" instruments. That is how Down Beat Magazine classified the soprano as well as the bass 
clarinet. My favorite artist played "miscellaneous" instruments.
Yuseff Lateef, Rashaan Roland Kirk, Eddie Harris, and of course,
Dolphy and Trane. There was nothing "miscellaneous" about them!!
I never thought that the expression of a tune should be restricted by the convention of an instrument .You can easily discern this by listening to Kenny B, C, D or whatever his name is, or any other one note, miscellaneous Kenny, and then listening to Trane. The artist I admired were never shackled by the notes on the page or the arrangement of the keys on the horn. They played from the soul. I think that more than learning to play the soprano, I want to learn to express the rhythm and love in my heart. It needs to be set free. As a child, I would "play the vacuum cleaner hose, coke bottles, tubes from the paper towel, anything. I would mimic Trane's solos with "dur-dur-dur" and Dolphy with "doodly dwee bop" Roland Kirk with "wank -wank-ak-ak", but ultimately I was able to mimic all the tunes I 
listened to, note for note. My dear friend Willie Durham nick named
me "Yuseff", after Yuseff Lateef who made music from anything that
could make a sound.
In my early twenties, I purchased a soprano sax. I would "toot" on it, but I never learned to read music. My lack of skill irritated my dearest friends. I got used to hearing them say "Man, put that thing away". Over time, I became discouraged and gave the instrument away. I always said that "Coltrane made me pick up the soprano, but he also made me put it down". Eight months ago, I bought a new soprano. One with interchangeable necks, curved and straight. I sat down next to the CD player and started playing along with Trane. I practice every day. Ultimately, I wanted to put up a WEB page with a section dedicated to Trane. It was to have a few of my poems and paintings and possibly a story or two. My life long friend, Peter Rashkin was to put it together for me. Peter had started with a low-end "Tandy" computer from Radio Shack . He now has some very sophisticated equipment and has developed a great talent with various unusual computer skills. He offered to construct my WEB site and even have a page that would be a video of me playing my soprano. I did not feel comfortable or proficient enough to play "on camera". I certainly wanted more time to "woodshed" and hone my skills before I played on the internet, but Peter was ready and anxious…….and doing it for free! So I had to "git it while the gittin' was good". I would like to think of this as my "first" Tribute to Trane and I would like to feel that some day I will learn to read music and learn 
technique and possibly have a "voice" on the soprano sax. I want to go
beyond the "dur-dur-dur" and the vacuum cleaner hose. With no false
modesty, I truly feel I have something to say, but for now, ready or
not, I have to go for what I know and for now, this is my FIRST
Tribute to Trane…in the meantime……..Namaste
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