Your One Message
If you could say ONE thing to the entire world, what would it be?
Well, John Coltrane's big something to the world was clear and direct: "All praise to God, who is a Love Supreme."
Today, I want to explore the relationship between John Coltrane, Eastern thought, yoga and meditation the the lens of A Love Supreme. I want to explore why Coltrane's big something is so important in general, but more personally, why it's so vital to me.
I also want to invite you to join me for a very unique and special listening experience, one that I'm confident JC himself would approve of.
Influencer
Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coltrane
To begin, John Coltrane was a straight-up genius. He was one of, if not THE greatest saxophone players in jazz, as well as a bandleader and composer. He was a thinker, an intellectual, even mystical. Everybody from Bono to Radiohead, to...well, everyone, when asked about their primary inspirations in music, will usually put John Coltrane on their short list.
Why? What makes him such an important and influential musician, one we still talk about today, almost 60 years after his death?
As one of the most iconic and important figures in contemporary music, not just jazz, his music stretches the boundaries of harmonics, improvisation, and composition. But all these years later, his music continues to transcend musical genres and cultural boundaries.
John Coltrane's chops were absolutely mind-blowing, but more than just flaunting his virtuosity on the sax, what makes his music so impactful, even to this day, is the fact that he wrote and played to be deeply felt. His music is nothing if not spiritual and connective. He intended for his music to be heard not only with ears but also with the heart and entire being. I think this is because his spirituality was the center of his life.
Spirit
After all, spirituality was in his blood. Literally, both of his grandfathers were ordained ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Yet, despite his upbringing in formalized religion, even from a very young age, he was and remained throughout his life constantly curious and searching. He did not adhere to any one religion. Rather, Coltrane openly embraced all religions who, he felt, at their core, shared an essential message of love.
He was constantly reading books about religions and spirituality and was no stranger to yoga and eastern thought. In fact, trombonist Curtis Fuller recalls the time he saw John Coltrane reading the Bhagavad Gita, then JC handed him the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda and told him to check it out. That was out there for jazz musicians.
The Spirit of Music
For Coltrane, music was not a deviation or distraction from the divine. In fact, he believed that the role of a musician was, at its essence, spiritual, akin to that of a prophet, someone who is given the gift of music for the sacred purpose of touching hearts and sharing a message of divine love through the medium of sound.
In 1957, after hitting rock bottom (read: Fired from Miles Davis' band for being addicted to drugs and alcohol—he even went off heroin cold turkey), John Coltrane had a spiritual awakening, which was the catalyst that drove him to create what is largely known as the most spiritual recording in jazz—what I believe to be his masterpiece—the album, A Love Supreme.
He recorded this album at the height of his famous quartet's powers. John Coltrane and his bandmates had developed such a connection and such harmony between their individual souls that they had created a united soul. This album is truly witnessing that unified soul singing to the divine. It's a musical miracle unfolding in real-time.
For me, listening to this album, it is difficult, if not impossible, not to feel a connection to the divine. I can't listen to this album as background music. It's too engaging. In fact, most of Coltrane's music is like this for me, but especially A Love Supreme. And even if you don't consider yourself very spiritual, at least listening to A Love Supreme, I think all can agree, is the sound of someone communing with the divine.
Mind, Heart, and Horn Blown
Get this: Unlike any of the other 25 albums he created as a bandleader (25 in only 10 years, mind you), John Coltrane insisted on crafting every part of A Love Supreme down to the most minute detail. He even wrote the liner notes, a heartfelt message to the listener—to us.
In complete humility and sincerity, he writes, "During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening 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 privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace... At this time, I would like to tell you that NO MATTER WHAT... IT IS WITH GOD. HE IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL. HIS WAY IS IN LOVE, THROUGH WHICH WE ALL ARE. IT IS TRULY—A LOVE SUPREME."
I get chills reading this. I mean, here's John Coltrane at his lowest point. He knows he's got gobs of talent and opportunities, but he is blowing it on booze and drugs. And as he's staring into the teeth of withdrawal, he literally sees the face of God and basically says, "Look, I don't want drugs and booze. What I really want in this life is simply to share my gifts to make people happy." And God is like, "Let this moment bring you to the light, John. Go. Blow your horn."
Boom!
For John Coltrane, the effect of this awakening obliterates both any doubt about his purpose for being on the planet as well as the goodness of God, who is, well, A Love Supreme.
The suite starts with the ringing of a gong, and I translate that as the moment John Coltrane gets his heart and mind blown from this awakening of eternal love.
What also touches me to the core about his message to us in the liner notes is how, in jazz, a world that epitomizes being too-cool-for-school, here he is, the KING of jazz, taking a right turn from hip and steering headlong into raw, vulnerable, and sincere.
It's so John Coltrane.
Venue
While most people associate jazz with smoky nightclubs, booze, and goateed hipsters, it is completely in line with the ethos of John Coltrane to transcend convention and experience his music in alternative settings. An invitation to get out of the nightclub could not be more clear than with A Love Supreme. And while I can attest that a smoky nightclub can be the perfect sanctuary for deeply spiritual experiences, especially when jazz is cutting the air, I would argue that a meditation hall or yoga studio could be an even more conducive venue to absorb the message and spirit of A Love Supreme.
Plus, unlike most other jazz albums, this album is meant to be listened to from start to finish. There's not a wasted or unintentional note on the album. With such pure heart and emotion seeded into this music, it warrants an open and beautiful space with uncluttered time to offer it a deep listen and truly absorb the spirit exuding from it.
My Own Love Supreme
If you'll allow me to be vulnerable for a bit, I've also had an awakened moment where my own Love Supreme blew open my heart and mind. And without going into all the details, what I can tell you is that at that moment, I realized that I really have only one message: Love is EVERYTHING.
I believe it's all of our greatest work on this planet to share love with the world in the form of our gifts. I believe that ANY way in which we love the world benefits the world.
As for me, I love the sax, I love John Coltrane's music, I love, love, love teaching yoga and meditation. So as a way of sharing my love with the world, I want to share all of these things with you at a special listening and meditation experience. This will be an opportunity to have the time and space to do a deep listen and meditate to the most spiritual piece of music in jazz. We'll read John Coltrane's words to us from the liner notes. This experience will also allow us to stretch and move our bodies a bit, as well as integrate, discuss, and journal about our experience.
Photo of Yours Truly by Josh Terry
Plus, you may have heard me play the clarinet in class, but not this time. This time, I'll be blowing spirit through my sax.
This will be better than any sermon in church!
So please mark your calendar for the following:
A Love Supreme: A Listening, Meditation, and Yoga Experience Set to the Most Spiritual Recording in Jazz.
When: Sunday, April 7th, from 2–4 pm MDT
Where: Live, in person at Mosaic Yoga, 1991 South 1100 East, SLC, UT 84106. Available via Zoom as well.
How much: Suggested donation is $25–$50... or jazz vinyls.
How to register: Space is limited, so you'll need to register in advance, which you can do here.
So yeah, this listening experience is going to be quite different from how most people might listen to A Love Supreme, but it'll be so John Coltrane. I'm confident that he'd dig it.
There's so much about A Love Supreme that I want to share with you, about its message, history, and impact, that I'll be sending some other messages about this soon, so stay tuned.