Greatest Jazz Albums Of All Time: John Coltranes A Love Supreme

Greatest Jazz Albums Of All Time: John Coltranes A Love Supreme

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Recorded by John Coltranes Jazz Quartet in 1964, A Love Supreme rings in number two on this Jazz connoisseurs 100 greatest Jazz albums of all time. This album, recorded in a single session, released by Impulse Records in the winter of 1965, is widely considered to be Coltranes greatest work. It is a sensational fusion of the hard bop sensibilities of his early career with the free jazz style he adopted later on. By 1970, an incredible 500,000 copies had been sold, in comparison to Coltranes archetypal Impulse sales of around 30,000. A Love Supreme is an intensely spiritual album, largely representative of a personal struggle for purity expressing Coltranes immense appreciation as he confesses to his talent and instrument as being owned not by him but by a superior spiritual power.

The album is a four-part suite, broken up into tracks: Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm. There are those scholars that believe that this performance was intended as homage to the sermons of African-American preachers. The final movement features what Coltrane identifies as a musical narration of a devotional poem he included in the liner notes. Coltrane makes the saxophone sing the words of the poem, but does not actually speak them himself. The poem comes to an end with the cry Elation. Elegance. Exaltation. All from God. Thank you God. Amen.

Further securing the recordings historical significance and place as one of the greatest albums of all time, the manuscript for the album is one of the National Museum of American History's Treasures of American History, which is part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. In 2003, the album was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The renowned publication called it a legendary album-long hymn of praise and stated The indelible four-note theme of the first movement, Acknowledgment, is the humble foundation of the suite. But Coltrane's majestic, often violent blowing (famously described as sheets of sound) is never self-aggrandizing. Aloft with his classic quartet... Coltrane soars with nothing but gratitude and joy. You can't help but go with him.

The albums influence has been all-embracing and diverse, penetrating the work of such musicians as tenor Joshua Redman and rock and roll legend Bono of U2. Guitarists John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana each credit A Love Supreme as one of their greatest early influences.

In a year that witnessed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Beatles taking the American music scene by storm, Coltranes album was unique because its theme was opposite of the loud and upbeat social and cultural climate in America.

For more information or for questions on buying or selling used Jazz, Latin Jazz and any other genre of music CDs, visit www.used-jazz.com. If you have any questions please email at customerservice@secondspin.com.

About the Author:
Brad Parmerter has almost 20 years experience in the music and entertainment industry as a writer, programmer, and merchandiser. He has professionally interviewed and photographed such artists as: Rush, Metallica, Celine Dion, Live, Phil Collins, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Live, Van Halen, Queensryche, Anna Nalick, Styx, Def Leppard, and many more.

Please visit SecondSpin.com for all of your entertainment needs.



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