Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary | Rotten Tomatoes

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary

Released Apr 14, 2017

1 hr. 39 min.

Documentary

Music

List

74%

43 Reviews

Tomatometer

76%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The life and work of legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, including commentary from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton and others.

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Critics Consensus

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary can't hope to truly capture its subject's freewheeling creative spirit, but it's still an engaging overview for fans as well as the uninitiated.

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Torin F

CHASING TRANE thoughtfully illuminates John Coltrane's growth and musical development, and skillfully contextualizes the more challenging music of his later years, presenting a straightforward and sympathetic portrait of a true jazz legend.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/24

Full Review

Aender S

A must-see for every Jazz fan.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/11/24

Full Review

Audience Member

This felt like your standard documentary and never really captured my full attention despite being informative and sprinkled with interesting personal anecdotes. The actual footage of Coltrane performances and the first person accounts from family and friends were where this doc was strongest. I never like when a doc uses an unrelated famous person's voice, in this case Denzel Washington, to speak the words of the subject of the documentary and would just prefer an anonymous sounding voice in the absence of Coltranes. John Densmore, the Doors drummer, easily wins the award for biggest Coltrane fan.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

william k

Excellent documentary manages to give a good impression of Coltrane's music and his significance within jazz history, although the choice of interview partners (e.g. Bill Clinton, John Densmore, Carlos Sanatana, et. al.) , even though they do have interesting things to say, is a bit dubious.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

really well done and brought me back to my early days when I studied this man's work ethic, spirituality, and completely unique approach. Perhaps this will be too serious & joyless for a newbie but hang in there and deeply listen to the words.to the music. to the higher calling.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not as detailed as I was hoping. Good place to start for the beginner.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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John Scheinfeld

Director

Denzel Washington

John Coltrane

Bill Clinton

Self

Common

Self

John Densmore

Self

Benny Golson

Self

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Elissa Suh

StageBuddy.com

The lack of technical talk or analysis of his music seems not only a discredit to the legendary man and his craft, but a disappointment to longtime fans and neophytes, eager to learn more about him.

Mar 13, 2020

Full Review

Adam Graham

Detroit News

Like Coltrane's music, the sheer brilliance of his musicianship cuts through the clutter.

Rated: B+

May 19, 2017

Full Review

Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

This documentary about John Coltrane provides a fine overview of his career for the uninitiated and plenty of lesser-known information for fans.

May 4, 2017

Full Review

Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Cinema

I think this is a doc about John Coltrane. I could be wrong.

Rated: 2/5

May 11, 2021

Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

Using Coltrane's music as a soundtrack, Scheinfeld has assembled archival materials and moving recollections from such jazz greats as Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Reggie Workman.

Jul 8, 2020

Full Review

Roger Catlin

TV Worth Watching

Working with the family of the musician, there are a lot of revealing home movie and archival footage and the words of Coltrane - from interviews or writings - are spoken with cool authority by Denzel Washington.

Jun 12, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

The life and work of legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, including commentary from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton and others.

Director: John Scheinfeld
Screenwriter: John Scheinfeld
Distributor: Abramorama
Production Co: Meteor 17, Crew Neck Productions
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 14, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 13, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $406.3K

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