Trane’s adaption of Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers’ hit song from the Sound of music was his breakthrough in 1961. It was also the first record of him playing the soprano saxophone, an instrument he chose because of its use in early jazz. Though commercially successful, the record went gold in as late as 2018, having sold 500.000 copies. Compare that to uhm… Michael Jackson.
As classic as the album might be, as formidable a sax player Coltrane is, it never quite matches between his music and me. This is the kind of nervous jazz that doesn’t really appeal to me. During my lessons in French, one of the first lessons I had to do, and something I remember very well was the “Tu l’âme le jazz?” (Do you love jazz?). It made me wonder if all the young people in France liked jazz and if I missed something. It must have been a personal taste of the writer of the method.