John Coltrane was born in High Point, NC, in 1926. Although there are recordings of Coltrane from as early as 1946, his real career spans the twelve years between 1955 and 1967, during which time he reshaped modern jazz and influenced generations of other musicians. Coltrane was freelancing in Philadelphia in the summer of 1955 when he received a call from trumpeter Miles Davis. Coltrane was with Davis group, off and on, from 1955 through 1960. By early 1961 Coltrane had signed with the new Impulse label and had what would become known as his classic quartet (McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones) in place. The peak of Coltranes output is the prodigious amount of music recorded between December 1964 (A Love Supreme) and November of 1965 (Meditations). Coltranes last group, with his wife Alice on piano, is well represented by recordings of a variety of small group sessions. John Coltrane died in 1967 at the age of 40.