Critic Kevin Whitehead opinions biographies of two musicians who transcended jazz, and to whom recognition was sluggish in coming: James P. Johnson, born in 1894, and Alice Coltrane, born in 1937.
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. There are two fats, new biographies of composers and pianists born 43 years aside. Their music transcended jazz, however recognition for his or her work was sluggish – James P. Johnson, born in 1894, and Alice Coltrane, born in 1937. Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead opinions each books.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAMES P. JOHNSON’S “ROSETTA”)
KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: James P. Johnson on “Rosetta,” 1939. Within the Twenties, Johnson was the foremost proponent of stride piano, the type that reworked ragtimes, oompah beats and tidy syncopations into extra flexibly propulsive jazz piano. His buoyant contact and phrasing influenced Fat Waller, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Artwork Tatum, Rely Basie, Thelonious Monk and plenty of of their admirers. Johnson wrote songs for Black Broadway, was king of Harlem’s legendary lease social gathering piano gladiators, was blues singer Bessie Smith’s finest accompanist and composer of 1920′ signature tune “The Charleston.” That is from a participant piano roll James P. Johnson reduce. He by no means bothered to file his greatest hit.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAMES P. JOHNSON’S “RUNNIN’ WILD MEDLEY”)
WHITEHEAD: Scott Brown’s excellent new biography “Speakeasies To Symphonies: The Jazz Genius Of James P. Johnson” solutions the query given all Johnson had completed, why is not he as well-known as his disciples? In hindsight, we all know it is recordings that cement a musician’s fame, however making data paid poorly within the ’20s and Johnson did not take them so critically. He wasn’t a pure showman like his protege Fat Waller, had little interest in main a working band to advertise his tunes and did not at all times function his virtuoso piano sufficient. He did have a comeback within the Forties, working in conventional jazz bands, however that made him appear to be a relic of an earlier period.
(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE CONDON’S “JUST YOU, JUST ME “)
WHITEHEAD: Beginning within the Twenties, James P. Johnson additionally composed blues rhapsodies for orchestra that symphonic gatekeepers ignored. However in latest a long time, his African American classical music has introduced him renewed consideration. Revivals embody a brand new, modernized revamp of Johnson’s candy “Yamekraw,” by pianist Marcus Roberts. The world could lastly be catching up.
(SOUNDBITE OF CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA, ET AL.’S PERFORMANCE OF JOHNSON’S “YAMEKRAW”)
WHITEHEAD: In the present day’s different biographical topic additionally will get extra respect now that she’s gone. Alice McLeod began out enjoying piano in church as a woman in Detroit, however grew to become well-known as harpist Alice Coltrane, spouse and widow of saxophonist John. From the primary, there might be one thing oddly harp-like about Alice’s swirly, sweeping piano strikes, a bent that grew extra pronounced when she joined her husband’s band in 1966.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN COLTRANE’S “CRESCENT (LIVE AT SANKEI HALL, TOKYO, JAPAN / JULY 11, 1966)”)
WHITEHEAD: John Coltrane was fascinated by the shimmering, angelic sound of the harp and had ordered one constructed for Alice, which arrived solely after his premature demise in 1967, as if harp was his bequest, a directive on tips on how to proceed. Alice Coltrane took to it straight away, pursuing orchestral concepts she and John had mentioned. Again then, she took quite a lot of criticism, particularly after overdubbing a string part onto a few John’s unreleased recordings. When her music resembled his, of us mentioned it fell quick. When she then went her personal manner, they did not know what to suppose. That is from 1971’s “Common Consciousness.”
(SOUNDBITE OF ALICE COLTRANE’S “UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS”)
WHITEHEAD: Andy Beta’s good new bio, “Cosmic Music: The Life, Artwork, And Transcendence Of Alice Coltrane,” traces her musical life from early Detroit days by her years with John Coltrane and her wild ’70s recordings, that includes harp, strings and her dynamic work on electrical organ, the place she may maintain notes like a saxophonist.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALICE COLTRANE’S “SPIRITUAL ETERNAL”)
WHITEHEAD: Then got here her lengthy final act. By the late Seventies, Alice Coltrane withdrew from public music making, having change into a Hindu mystic. Within the ’80s, she based a California ashram, the place she was often called Swamini Turiyasangitananda. Her musical focus was now on devotional chants. After she died in 2007, a well-known story performed out. Her data, as soon as dismissed as loopy, obtained rediscovered and reappraised. I used to be asleep on her jaw-dropping ’70s stuff myself. For higher or worse, she helped encourage a latest religious jazz revival, with two Coltranes as patron saints. Alice Coltrane got here out of her husband’s shadow by shining her personal vibrant gentle. Her music continues to be on the market in each sense.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALICE COLTRANE’S “GALAXY IN SATCHIDANANDA”)
MOSLEY: Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reviewed “Speakeasies To Symphonies: The Jazz Genius Of James P. Johnson,” by Scott E. Brown, and “Cosmic Music: The Life, Artwork, And Transcendence Of Alice Coltrane,” by Andy Beta.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MOSLEY: On tomorrow’s present, we discuss in regards to the state of the battle with Iran and prospects for peace with Aaron David Miller, a veteran of the State Division who suggested Republican and Democratic presidents on Center East coverage. He is the creator of 5 books and is at the moment a senior fellow on the Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace. I hope you possibly can be part of us.
FRESH AIR’s government producer is Sam Briger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and opinions are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the present. With Terry Gross, I am Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts could range. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
