Coltrane, John (1926-1967).  HANDWRITTEN ALTO SAXOPHONE SOLO ARRANGEMENT FOR“BODY AND SOUL” purchased directly from Coltrane’s family at the “Jazz at Lincoln Center” auction in 2005.  Two folio pages; each 10” by 13.”  Unsigned (as were all but a few of his music manuscripts) but confirmed to be entirely in his hand by both branches of the Coltrane family. Undated but c. 1955-1959 when Coltrane was at his most prolific, performing and recording with such legends as Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, as well as forming his own group. John Coltrane was an instrumentalist of towering creativity and originality who achieved almost unimaginable virtuosity. He is perhaps as important to the history of modern Jazz as Dickens is to English literature. Both title and alto part for this classic Jazz standard are written in pencil, rectos only, labeled IIIrd Alto. Judging by the complexity seen in this arrangement, it appears to be designed for recording; however this is not from the version of “Body And Soul” which Coltrane recorded for posterity on October 24th,1960; it is speculated by his family that this notation may belong to an earlier arrangement for a small group.  It’s not impossible that this “Body And Soul” may have been recorded, there are many lost Coltrane tapes of his informal sessions and club performances. Copyright is retained by the Coltrane family (so stamped on the verso).  In Very Good condition, only a few minor creases and tiny stains, none of which affect any of the writings.      $3,500.00

Coltrane, John.  HANDWRITTEN NOTATION FOR A 5th  BARITONE SAXOPHONE SOLO  purchased directly from Coltrane’s family. One page,  12 ½” x 9 ½” undated but c. 1955-1959.  The notation is untitled and written in black ink, below it is a time signature with fours and an eight written above them, all in pencil.  The bottom of the page sports a large sketch in pencil of a man playing piano with a woman leaning over his shoulder.  On the verso Coltrane has written: “the son of Alpha’us/spasmodic, convulsive, affect by spasm/ violent convulsion” in pencil across the length of the paper, the words cascade down the page almost like a musical scale. Some creasing and wear but in Very Good condition and quite fascinating [with] Coltrane, John.  MANUSCRIPT PAGE OF WHIMSICAL DRAWINGS, one page, 12 ½ ” by 9” undated but c. 1955-1959.  Purchased directly from the Coltrane Family. This sheet features treble clef signs inked across the middle of the page and the words: “That’s the IInd Time You’ve Done That!”  written in black ink in the left margin.  There is also a large caricature of a man with his body broken up in between six staves, also in ink.  On the verso there are two bars of musical notation in pencil.  Some creasing and edge wear, else Good. [With:] Coltrane, John.  MANUSCRIPT PAGE OF PORTRAIT SKETCHES.  Single sheet, 12 ½ ” by 9” undated but c. 1955-1959.  Purchased directly from the Coltrane Family.  One well-finished drawing features a woman’s head, the second is a caricature of a saxophone player.  Also a few other smaller portraits. Two streaks of spilled black ink flare across the page but do not affect the sketches. Coltrane’s cousin Mary has been quoted as saying that Coltrane frequently doodled pictures of musicians and at one time was thinking “about becoming an illustrator.”  In Good condition.  All three manuscripts, a well-matched trio which appear to roughly date from the same time period, offer a personal peek into a genuinely incomparable beautiful mind.     $1,500.00