John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme

John Coltrane’s seminal ‘A Love Supreme’ album came out in 1965 on Impulse! Recordings.

Coltrane was a phenomenally talented saxophonist and composer, who played with some of the finest musicians of his time, including legendary trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Like many of his contemporaries, Coltrane struggled with addiction, which at times threatened to derail his career, and ultimately lead to his premature death at 40.

For Michigan drummer/producer Shigeto (Sound Motives Episode 1), this record was key to his early pursuit of a jazz career, before later shifting in a more electronic direction.

Here’s a documentary featuring some amazing live performances from Coltrane, alongside interviews with his ex-wife and many of his fellow musicians. It establishes where Coltane was coming from (the son of a preacher, emerging from bebop, and the Charlie Parker era of jazz) and where he was looking to go, combining Asian and African musical traditions with spiritual mysticism, aiming to develop a more modal and free approach to his art.

A personal highlight for me, is the live rendition of ‘Favourite Things’ at 15.00.

And if you want a more unusual approach to the subject, watch the below documentary about the Church of John Coltrane in San Francisco from 1996. Jazz, heroin and religion makes for quite a concoction!