Sunday, January 24, 2010

YouTube - John Coltrane Quartet - On Green Dolphin Street - 1960

YouTube - John Coltrane Quartet - On Green Dolphin Street - 1960

I have been infatuated with the music of John Coltrane for close to fifteen years. I first encountered his music in the context of sacred worship of praise and devotion. For a brief moment, I was a member of the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco, CA. I spent many of Sundays intoxicated by the musical vision of Coltrane.

While I cannot say that I have always understood the spirituality so evident in his masterpiece, "A Love Supreme," or the music that followed, I most recently have come to understand it as the painstaking faithfulness of a man devoted to the ecstasy of God. Every single note of his music matched with every inpouring and outpouring of breath was dedicated to the realization of God.

He courageously proclaimed that all paths lead to God, the Ultimate Source. He chose, or rather was claimed, by the path of vibration, the power of sound. Into that sound I was baptised many years ago. I am grateful that I have been confirmed, as well as continuing to ascend the musical landscapes of a spiritual heights that by myself I could not reach where it not for the direction of St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane. I humbly offer a glimpse of the 'Trane.

No comments:

Post a Comment