{"id":16090,"date":"2017-10-31T14:53:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T22:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=16090"},"modified":"2019-09-30T14:12:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T22:12:29","slug":"filmmaker-john-scheinfeld-chases-coltranes-legacy","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/filmmaker-john-scheinfeld-chases-coltranes-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmaker John Scheinfeld Chases Coltrane’s Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filmmaker John Scheinfeld<\/strong> is no stranger to taking on challenging subjects for documentaries.\u00a0The Emmy\u00ae, Grammy\u00ae and Writers Guild Award nominee and writer\/director\/producer’s other films include The U.S. vs. John Lennon<\/em>, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)<\/em>, We Believe<\/em>, and Dick Cavett’s Watergate<\/em>. But something about the story of legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane called to him for his latest project, Chasing Trane<\/em><\/a>. As he tells us in this exclusive interview, Scheinfeld was not a Coltrane-obsessed youth per se but came to love his music and found the man himself mysterious and intriguing: “the more I read about him, the better I came to believe that\u00a0his\u00a0was a special and unique story.”<\/p>\n

Critic Glenn Kenny, writing for RogerEbert.com<\/a>, said “Chasing Trane<\/em>\u00a0streamlines the story of the jazz saxophonist, but it does so in a way that doesn\u2019t feel like cheating. Scheinfeld\u2019s approach is to give the viewer the forest, point out a few trees and get out, confident that those trees will inspire the viewer to spend more time in the forest.” Kenny adds, “What emerges in this film is not just a great artist but also a noble soul that constantly sought to be gentle. The fact that someone as wholly beautiful as John Coltrane once walked this earth is enough to make you maintain some kind of faith in humanity itself.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why did you want to make a film about John Coltrane?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To celebrate the extraordinary musical legacy of an outside-the-box thinker whose boundary-shattering work continues to impact and influence people around the world.<\/p>\n

\"Chasing

Chasing Trane filmmaker John Scheinfeld<\/p><\/div>\n

What is your own relationship to music and jazz music in particular? When did you first discover Coltrane’s music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m not a musician nor do I play an instrument, music plays a key role in my life every single day. If I\u2019m not making a film about a musician, or researching a new music-related project, I can be found listening to songs in my iTunes library (I\u2019ve got nearly 20,000). Music entertains me, moves me, inspires me.<\/p>\n

I confess that I was not an obsessed John Coltrane fan when work began on Chasing Trane<\/em>. Like many others, I had been introduced to his remarkable work through his recording of \u201cMy Favorite Things\u201d and later came to know and be inspired by A Love Supreme<\/em>. But the more I read about him, the better I came to believe that his was a special and unique story.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard the clich\u00e9 tale\u2014a young artist with awesome talent explodes on the scene, has great success, makes a lot of money, abuses one substance or another, and as a result dies young. Coltrane was the antithesis of this. He had his challenges early on but, by sheer force of will and hard work, he overcame them and began his journey to greatness. To me, this was an inspiring and uplifting story.<\/p>\n

What jazz music would you recommend newbies start with (both Coltrane and other artists)? In other words, what are some of the must-have albums for those wanting to become more jazz-literate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are many jazz artists that I enjoy, but I\u2019m no expert and don\u2019t feel qualified to offer an opinion on this subject. That said, I\u2019m mindful of something John Coltrane said during an interview and is spoken in the film by Denzel Washington:<\/p>\n

\u201cI myself don\u2019t recognize the word jazz. I mean, we\u2019re sold under this name, but to me the word doesn\u2019t exist. I just feel that I play John Coltrane.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This, I think is a key point. From the outset it was important that Chasing Trane<\/em>\u00a0be a film for everyone, not just Coltrane fans or hardcore jazz aficionados. It is a portrait of a remarkable artist whose music crosses barriers of genre to such a great extent that it is, truly, in a category of its own.<\/p>\n

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in making a music bio doc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having made films about iconic artists such as John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Brian Wilson and others I\u2019m accustomed to the pressure that comes along with the joys of making a film about someone whose work I and so many others admire. My goal with Chasing Trane<\/em> was to tell a strong, compelling and honest story that didn\u2019t rewrite history to satisfy Coltrane\u2019s biggest fans. He absolutely had his demons and they are addressed in a responsible and truthful manner.<\/p>\n

To fully appreciate Coltrane\u2019s redemption and the musical excellence that followed it was critical that the audience feel and comprehend the darkness that encircled him that, through sheer force of will and faith, he successfully overcame.<\/p>\n

Another challenge was the lack of performance footage. Unfortunately, Coltrane didn\u2019t make many appearances on television in the United States and only on a handful of shows in Europe. Therefore, to bring his story to life, the Chasing Tran<\/em>e creative team spent many months tracking down the most unusual, rare and never-before-seen photographs and home movie footage with which to tell Coltrane\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Happily, we found far more than we could possibly use. Once we knew what we had to work with then we could begin the painstaking process of molding and shaping individual sequences into a cohesive whole.<\/p>\n