“Sheets of sound was a term coined in 1958 by Down Beat magazine jazz critic Ira Gitler to describe the new, unique improvisational style of John Coltrane. Gitler first used the term on the liner notes for Soultrane (1958). Coltrane, a saxophonist, employed extremely dense improvisational yet patterned lines consisting of high speed arpeggios and scale patterns played in rapid succession: hundreds of notes running from the lowest to highest registers. The lines are often faster than sixteenth notes, consisting of quintuplets, septuplets, etc., and can sound like glissandos. Coltrane invented this style while playing with Thelonious Monk and developed it further when he returned to Miles Davis' group. Coltrane used the ‘sheets of sound’ lines to liquidise and loosen the strict chords, modes, and harmonies of Hard Bop, whilst still adhering to them (at this stage in his musical development). ...”
