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Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

Play trailer Poster for Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary 2017 1h 39m Documentary Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 43 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
The life and work of legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, including commentary from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton and others.
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Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

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Critics Consensus

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary can't hope to truly capture its subject's freewheeling creative spirit, but it's still an engaging overview for fans as well as the uninitiated.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Graham Detroit News 05/19/2017
B+
Like Coltrane's music, the sheer brilliance of his musicianship cuts through the clutter. Go to Full Review
Ben Sachs Chicago Reader 05/04/2017
This documentary about John Coltrane provides a fine overview of his career for the uninitiated and plenty of lesser-known information for fans. Go to Full Review
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune 05/04/2017
3/4
He was, and is, loved, supremely, by millions. "Chasing Trane" shares the love. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Michael J. Cinema 05/11/2021
2/5
I think this is a doc about John Coltrane. I could be wrong. Go to Full Review
Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 07/08/2020
Using Coltrane's music as a soundtrack, Scheinfeld has assembled archival materials and moving recollections from such jazz greats as Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Reggie Workman. Go to Full Review
Elissa Suh StageBuddy.com 03/13/2020
The lack of technical talk or analysis of his music seems not only a discredit to the legendary man and his craft, but a disappointment to longtime fans and neophytes, eager to learn more about him. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Torin F @nonlinearize 04/23/2024 CHASING TRANE thoughtfully illuminates John Coltrane's growth and musical development, and skillfully contextualizes the more challenging music of his later years, presenting a straightforward and sympathetic portrait of a true jazz legend. See more Aender S 04/11/2024 A must-see for every Jazz fan. See more 01/17/2021 This felt like your standard documentary and never really captured my full attention despite being informative and sprinkled with interesting personal anecdotes. The actual footage of Coltrane performances and the first person accounts from family and friends were where this doc was strongest. I never like when a doc uses an unrelated famous person's voice, in this case Denzel Washington, to speak the words of the subject of the documentary and would just prefer an anonymous sounding voice in the absence of Coltranes. John Densmore, the Doors drummer, easily wins the award for biggest Coltrane fan. See more 12/25/2017 really well done and brought me back to my early days when I studied this man's work ethic, spirituality, and completely unique approach. Perhaps this will be too serious & joyless for a newbie but hang in there and deeply listen to the words.to the music. to the higher calling. See more 11/26/2017 Not as detailed as I was hoping. Good place to start for the beginner. See more 07/13/2017 I loved it. First of all was the constant music of Coltrane playing throughout the film. I enjoyed the still photos (why do critics have so much trouble with them?) the newsreels of the civil rights events, the interviews with the children. There was some beautiful animation and interviews with jazz greats like Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson, and of course the many clips of studio recording sessions. The music is great , the man was great, he loved and was loved, what more do we need? I thought the treatment of his death was very discreet, sparing us the suffering of so great a loss. A beautiful film! See more Read all reviews
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

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Movie Info

Synopsis The life and work of legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, including commentary from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton and others.
Director
John Scheinfeld
Producer
Spencer Proffer, John Beug, Scott Pascucci, Dave Harding
Screenwriter
John Scheinfeld
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
Crew Neck Productions, Meteor 17
Genre
Documentary, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 14, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 13, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$406.3K
Runtime
1h 39m
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