Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by DownBeat magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique improvisational style of John Coltrane.[1][2] Gitler first used the term on the liner notes for Soultrane (1958).[3]
While he was with Miles, Coltrane was tagged with the phrase "sheets of sound." Jazz critic Ira Gitler had first used it. These "sheets of sound" were multinote hailstorms of dense textures that sound like a simultaneous series of waterfalls. "His continuous flow of ideas without stopping really hit me," Gitler said. "It was almost superhuman. The amount of energy he was using could have powered a spaceship."