A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album by Ashley Kahn

Author:Ashley Kahn [Kahn, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Autobiography, Biography, History & Criticism, Jazz, Music, Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781101126806
Google: WxSOh2_6bTcC
Amazon: B00AFZI0XO
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 2003-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Hentoff explains further:

It’s awfully hard to get words to say what the musician had in mind, and when the musician is articulate, you’re one step ahead. It’s a word that’s used very loosely these days, but Coltrane was an intellectual in his way, sort of a theosophist, I guess. I mean, he thought all the time. That’s why the notes I’ve done that made any sense are the ones that are simply interviews.

For A Love Supreme, the normally skittish Coltrane opted for another, well-established liner-note option: he wrote them himself. He divided his thoughts into two sections: a prose letter to his listener, and a poem serving double duty—as prayer to the Divine and a libretto for the final musical section of A Love Supreme. The former was well thought-out, arranged with a logical flow much like the progression of the music inside: from greeting and opening benediction; to statements of purpose, dedication, structure, and gratitude; to closing prayer, salutation, and signature. Not known for his writing, and given to halting statements when asked to speak, Coltrane revealed a surprising eloquence with pen in hand. His notes showed he could be florid (“May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain…”), dramatic (“As time and events moved on, a period of irresolution did prevail”), poetic, and syntactically adventurous (“for in the bank of life is not good that investment which surely pays the highest and most cherished dividends”).

He was baring his soul on the back of A Love Supreme, in that letter and that prayer. He put a lot of thought into those notes before he decided to put it down. It’s the last part—the fifth part—of the suite.

—Elvin Jones

Coltrane’s text told the classic story of personal redemption with a musical twist: man fallen, man saved, man dedicates self to God through horn. He gave a general date—“during the year 1957”—of his rebirth, when he “experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.” The evidence was certainly there to back him up. The coldturkey end to his drug addiction, his intense musical studies, alone and with Thelonious Monk, and his debut on record as a leader all occurred in that same fateful year.

Had the “merciful hand of God” been extended only then, Coltrane would have been content. But “in gratitude,” and with a messianic urge, he tells his listener that he “humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music.” That he had received the ability, “granted through His grace,” was the sole, simple reason for A Love Supreme. The album was his “humble offering to Him. An attempt to say ‘THANK YOU GOD’ through our work.”

On Kind of Blue, an album Coltrane helped create, the structure of each track was explained in detail by Bill Evans. Coltrane did not provide as much in his notes, simply naming the four parts of the Love Supreme suite, and attempting to clarify the role of the poem to follow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.