Twentieth century musician saxophonist and composer John Coltrane was a key figure in jazz history. Throughout his life, Coltrane played in various styles: bebop, hard bop, fret jazz; he became the leader of the new avant-garde, and at the end of the journey he composed and performed completely new music addressed to God. His work had a great influence on the development of world music in general. The book by Louis Porter, professor of music at Rutgers University (USA), is the first full biography of Coltrane published in Russia.