John Coltrane, composer · Named by Naima Coltrane · Recorded for Atlantic in October 1960, released on Coltrane's Sound, 1964
Equinox
Equinox is a slow minor blues by John Coltrane, first released on the album Coltrane's Sound. It is a plain twelve-bar form with one unusual chord, in bar 9. Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Hubert Laws, Larry Coryell, Kenny Garrett and Joel Ross have recorded it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
How the tune works
The tune is a 12-bar minor blues, three lines of four bars. Cm7 holds the first four bars. The second line moves to Fm7 for two bars and returns to Cm7 for two. In the third line, A♭7 in bar 9 and G7 in bar 10 lead back to Cm7 for the last two bars. A♭7 is the one chord that a plain minor blues does not use. Coltrane's record opens with a 14-bar introduction before the first chorus. C minor is the usual key. Coltrane recorded the tune a half step higher, in C♯ minor.
The changes in C minor, the usual key: 12 bars, three lines of four. The first line holds Cm7, the second moves to Fm7 for two bars, and the third turns through A♭7 and G7 back to Cm7.
Moved down a half step from the changes Roel's World and Wikipedia give for the recording in C♯ minor (C♯m7 for four bars, F♯m7 for two, C♯m7 for two, then A7, G♯7 and C♯m7 for two). Roel's World writes bar 9 of the Real Book version in C minor as A♭9; the recorded changes give A♭7 when moved to C minor. Coltrane's record has a 14-bar introduction that this chart leaves out. Compare the chart with the one you play from and with the recording.
Listen in this order
Play all 5 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Coltrane's record, then hears the tune with two saxophones, a flute, a voice and a vibraphone in the lead. Each step changes who leads the same tune.
-
Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
John Coltrane (Quartet) 1960
Coltrane's Sound
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Piano and drums open with a Latin rhythm before the slow main theme starts. Coltrane plays the theme twice on tenor saxophone, then improvises.
- Try this
- Set the chart on this page to C♯ minor and play one chord per bar, counting to twelve. Pay attention at bar 9, the one chord that a plain minor blues does not use.
-
Step 2 · Hear it with two saxophones Now playing
Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano 2007
Compassion: The Music of John Coltrane
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Tenor and soprano saxophones lead over piano, bass and drums. Count twelve-bar choruses to hear how long each player stays out front.
- Try this
- Find the key by ear, then set the chart on this page to match and play one chord per bar along with the record. If that is too much, hum the root of the first chord against the record.
-
Step 3 · Change the lead instrument Now playing
Hubert Laws 1971
Wild Flower
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A flute takes the lead. Listen for the string section and the bass behind it.
- Try this
- Find the key by ear, then play the first eight bars of the chart on this page: four bars of the first chord, two of the second, two of the first again. Smaller version: play only the root of each bar on a bass or the left hand of a keyboard.
-
Step 4 · Put a voice on it Now playing
Gil Scott-Heron 1993
“Spirits”, Spirits
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Gil Scott-Heron's voice leads this track. Play it after Coltrane's record and listen for what the two share.
- Try this
- Write one line of your own words and say it over the chart on this page at a slow tempo, one chord per bar. Smaller version: hum the root of each chord.
-
Step 5 · Hear a new band Now playing
Joel Ross 2022
“equinox”, nublues
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A vibraphone and an alto saxophone lead a quintet with piano, bass and drums. Compare this blues sound with Coltrane's quartet.
- Try this
- Find the key by ear, set the chart on this page to match and play only the chord roots, one per bar. Smaller version: tap four beats per bar through one chorus.
More great versions
-
Rhoda Scott 1971
“Equinox (Live at the Olympia, Paris / 1971)”, Live at the Olympia
A live organ version from the Olympia in Paris, with Joe Thomas on flute and saxophone and Cees Kranenburg on drums.
-
Larry Coryell with John Scofield and Joe Beck 1979
Tributaries
Larry Coryell, John Scofield and Joe Beck play Coltrane's tune on acoustic guitars for the 1979 album Tributaries.
-
Kenny Garrett 1996
Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane
Kenny Garrett on alto saxophone with Pat Metheny on guitar, Rodney Whitaker on bass and Brian Blade on drums, from his 1996 Coltrane tribute album.