John Coltrane

A Love Supreme

In 1957, John Coltrane lost his position in Miles

Davis’ Quintent. The loss of his position with

the Quintet shocked Trane. He idolized Miles

and valued his close personal contact with the

band leader. Trane was sure that he would soon

be rehired. When that did not happen, he got his

own group together, but he found out one night

that his facility on the horn was completely gone.

Immediately he stopped using both narcotics

and alcohol and went to his bedroom,

where he sat quietly by a window for three

days. His wife, Naima, became worried, for

she thought that Coltrane was on the verge of

a nervous breakdown. During these three days

of solitude (Coltrane later told Naima) he heard

the most beautiful faraway sound of drones he

could imagine. For the rest of his life he tried to

recapture the sound but never succeeded. John

had experienced a spiritual awakening. He felt

that God had touched him and had revealed

to him that people could be uplifted by music.

He later wrote,

During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual wakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and the privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. All praise to God.

During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual wakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and the privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. All praise to God.

Over the next seven years, Coltrane’s music

radically changed due to his spiritual awakening,

combined with his opportunity to play with the

legendary Thelonius Monk. Coltrane found Monk

to be an inspiring teacher. Monk sharpened

Coltrane’s sense of musical time and space and

encouraged him to experiment with complex

harmonic improvisations.

Coltrane went on to start his own quartet, along

with experimenting on the soprano saxophone.

The soprano sax allowed him the freedom to

develop a thorough technical proficiency on an

instrument that few musicians had dared to play

previously because of its highly temperamental

and uncontrollable nature. Coltrane continued

to gain notoriety with several records, leading

up to his most impressive work in 1964.

1964 was a year of tragedy with race riots

throughout the nation and the murders of

three young civil rights workers in Philadelphia,

Mississippi. 1964 was the year in which John

Coltrane, undoubtedly influenced by the tragic

events, composed a much needed prayer for peace,

A Love Supreme

A Love Supreme He dedicated his composition to God, thanking

Him for having been awakened spiritually in

1957. John never forgot that in that year he had

been granted the means and the privilege of

making others happy through his music.

A Love Supreme is the first of several albums

in which Coltrane seeks to lift his listeners to

a high spiritual level. The work must be viewed,

therefore, not only in a musical context but

also in a religious one. Coltrane was so affected

by the work that he experienced a second

spiritual awakening. From that time on, John

was praying ninety percent of the time during

which hewas playing, and he saw God at least

once. A Love Supreme signalled the turning

point in Coltrane’s career in regard to both

the critics’ evaluation of his music and his

own appraisal of it.

In preparation for A Love Supreme, Coltrane

read the Bible, the Koran, the Bhavaghad Gita,

and various Buddhist texts. His wide interests

included such disparate activities as study

of Einstein’s theory of relativity and, on an

entirely different level, drawing maps of Africa

and Asia. There was one constant thread of

continuity among all of his activities: they were

all related in some way to his music. He felt that

he could realize the true meaning of life only by

completely refining his emotions-and his music.

A Love Supreme signals the beginning of John’s

explorations of new musical horizons. The work

is divided into four parts: “Acknowledgment”,

“Resolution”, “Pursuance,” and “Psalm.”

Recorded in 1964

John Coltrane - Saxophone

Jimmy Garrison - Bass

McCoy Tyner - Piano

Elvin Jones - Drums

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At the beginning of “Acknowledgement,”

Coltrane introduces a simple, short, and

Indian-flavored melody. Throughout the entire

composition he builds scalar variations on the

four or five notes that are a part of this initial

tune. He explores all of the traditional ways

of improvising in his handling of the “A Love

Supreme” melody. At the end of the section,

Trane and the rest of the group repeatedly

intone the words,

Coltrane plays a vigorous,

“A love supreme.”

lyrical, surging

solo against

the steady and vibrant

background music of the

other group members.

`

“Resolution” has a simple framework with few

complex changes. Coltrane goes a bit farther

in his embellishment of the original melody in

this section. In addition, the piano and drums

play solos that reflect the influence of ‘bop’.

“Bebop” was based on harmonic improvisation

and eighth notes rather than the melodic

improvisation and quarter notes of swing.

This new kind of jazz allowed the musician

more freedom to improvise and to give vent

to his emotions. In addition, it had a more

natural and asymetrical sound than its

predecessor, swing.

Resolution

“Pursuance” begins with an accompanied drum

solo played by Elvin Jones, which leads into

Resolution

This movement serves as the climax of the suite,

before moving to the final portion.

Pursuancewild piano

and tenor sax solos.

quite frightening.

The ominous and deeply emotional tone of this

last section gives a prayer-like quality to

the music that is beautiful but also

PsalmA long bass solo leads directly into the fourth

part of the work, “Psalm.” Trane’s long solo

in “Psalm” is distinctive for its high, sobbing

lyricism. A continuously rolling drum in the

background gives the piece great tension.

quite frightening.

The ominous and deeply emotional tone of this

last section gives a prayer-like quality to

the music that is beautiful but also

Three years after the release of A Love Supreme,

on 17 July 1967, Coltrane succumbed to cancer

of the liver. His funeral took place at St. Peter’s

Lutheran Church in New York on 21 July. The service,

entitled “A Love Supreme,” was attended by over

1,000 relatives, friends, fans, and fellow musicians.

Coltrane’s music has continued to resonate among jazz

aficianados everywhere, many hailing A Love Supreme

to be one of the greatest jazz albums ever made.

COLOPHON

This book was printed in the Communication

Design studio at Washington University in

St. Louis during the Fall 2011 semester by

Erin Miller

Typefaces used are Univers Bold Condensed

and Neutraface Slab Text.

REFERENCES

Turner, Richard. “John Coltrane: A Biographical

Sketch.” The Black perspective in music. Vol. 3,

No. 1 ed. Cambria Heights, N.Y.: Foundation for

Research in the Afro-American Creative Arts,

1990. 3-16, 28-29. Print.