26-2

"26-2"
Song by John Coltrane
GenreJazz

"26-2" is a musical composition written by American jazz musician John Coltrane.[1] The song was recorded by Coltrane in 1960, but it released ten years later by Atlantic Records on an album entitled The Coltrane Legacy with a rhythm section composed of McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums.[2][3] The composition itself is a contrafact of Charlie Parker's tune "Confirmation", with harmonic alterations to the original chord changes used by Coltrane in a number of his compositions.[4] This harmonic modification is commonly known as Coltrane Changes, which have been most notably used in Coltrane's "Giant Steps".[5][6] "26-2" is one of several contrafacts by Coltrane, others including "Countdown", a contrafact of Miles Davis's "Tune Up"; and "Satellite" from the album Coltrane's Sound, which is based upon the chord progression of "How High the Moon".[4] Coltrane plays the first statement of the melody on tenor saxophone and switches to soprano saxophone for the last statement of the melody on the recorded version.[7]

  1. ^ Howard Reich (April 18, 2014). "Kurt Rosenwinkel at Jazz Showcase". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. ^ Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. pp. 598–599.
  3. ^ "John Coltrane - The Coltrane Legacy". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Porter, Lewis (1999). John Coltrane: His Life and Music. The University of Michigan Press. p. 147.
  5. ^ Yamaguchi, Masaya (2006). Symmetrical Scales for Jazz Improvisation. Masaya Music Services. p. 36.
  6. ^ Yamaguchi, Masaya; Demsey, David (2003). "Foreword: Coltrane Changes: John Coltrane's Thirds Cycle Exploration". John Coltrane Plays "Coltrane Changes" (Songbook). Hal Leonard.
  7. ^ Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 599.