I had a brief conversation about John Coltrane with saxophonist Joel Johansen last night and it conjured up some things that I haven’t thought of in a while.
There is a very spiritual quality to Coltrane’s music. If I remember right, in the liner notes for the album “A Love Supreme”, he talks about how he was trying to describe his spiritual feelings and experience through music.
I did a little web searching to explore the spiritual connection to Coltrane’s music and I found a site from the Saint John Coltrane Church in San Francisco. Here is an excerpt from the mission statement.
Our primary mission at the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church is to bring souls to Christ; to know sound as the preexisting wisdom of God, and to understand the divine nature of our patron saint in terms of his ascension as a high soul into one-ness with God through sound. In our praises we too seek such a relationship with God. We have come to understand John Coltrane in terms of his sound and as sound in meditative union with God.
The ascension of St. John Coltrane into one-ness with God is what we refer to as the Risen Trane. In dealing with the Saint, John Coltrane, we are not dealing with St. John the man but St. John the sound and St. John the Evangelist and Sound Baptist, who attained union with God through sound. From the standpoint of the biography of John Coltrane, the Risen Trane is the post 1957 John Coltrane. He who emerged from drug addiction onto a path of spiritual awakening and who gave testimony of the power and empowerment of grace of God in his life and in his Psalm on A Love Supreme, and in his music thereafter. (“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. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.”) We, too, having been touched by this anointed sound and being called and chosen by the Holy Ghost, endeavor to carry the holy ambition and mantle of sound baptism of St. John Coltrane.
The church was named the “hippest church” by Life magazine and the BBC did a documentary about it in 2004. I guess I’m out of the loop. Actually, I have never heard of this type of thing before; a church bestowing sainthood on a musician or, any type of artist, and naming itself after him. I am sure there is probably a “Church of Elvis” or something along those lines but, the Coltrane Church appears to be very serious about what they are doing. If any of you have actually been there or know of something similar, let me know.
Recent Comments