The urgency, fight and insistence of this music assails me, shouting, "Join us! We can fight our way free! Get up, pick up your axe and throw yourself against our enemy!" All the players join in with drive and a rhythm that doesn't quit. Thanks, Bret. I'll play my part.
Bret....ahhh..superb! As soon as i hear this I start to cry. I've been listening tp Trane since around 1960. Thank you, friend. I heard Trane live four or five times, including one gig with Archie Shepp. Whooo!
Fantastic article, Bret! Thank you for writing and putting this out. It reminds me of the time, in retrospect, my transition from adolescence to adulthood when my life absolutely turned to shit. I was drowning spiritually, physically, socially, financially, professionally, familially, with addictions, emotionally, in anguish without anyone I could talk to. Thankfully, the music of John Coltrane pulled me through that time period, reached into the depths of my heart, and gave me spirit and a fight, and an upward outlook. Records like ALS, Crescent, Transitions, Coltrane's Sound, even Giant Steps inspired in me courage, and revealed that things weren't as bad as I had painted for myself. Thanks again!
Jazz is an expression of personal achievement. It is intellectual and spiritual athleticism combined with grace of perception. What a jazz musician finds is a form so deep and inclusive that it sucks into itself all the world’s music. It sublimates these musics into an idiom that blends blues and improvisation. A practitioner of jazz is much like a yogi who undertakes a life of contemplation. When musicians arrive together to make music they bring their valise of masteries, their scales and modes, their real and fake books, their tools and tuners. Nowadays we have no guides except jazz musicians. The world may not know this. But WE do. We do our best to live the ezz-thetic life. We err, often. In order to comprehend our humanity we court exposure to our darkest impulses. It is that friction between the parts of ourselves that inspires music rich with humor, terror and the sense of being momentary. The greatest jazz musicians are so individualized in their tone and concept that they know they are unique. They stand with the other towers of musical ideas.
Freddie Hubbard said that Trane had a sound that cut right through you. The “Love Supreme album is a glorious sonic landscape. Thanks for this post, Bret!
Thank you for getting us to remember what this music of Coltrane’s has always done for us. It changed my life, and still manifests hope and peace daily……
It’s always been a continuing source of inspiration and salvation, and I’m sure it will continue to be so. Thanks for commenting and blessings to your family. And most importantly, good health!
Thanks for the timely reminder, Bret. Its not that I have somehow forgotten your premise, but I do think I'll take a stroll over to the turntable and dial up a dose of A Love Supreme. I haven't actually listened to it for some time. Better later than never. I figure that in 1964 you were about 15 years of age. Did you hear Coltrane live? If so, do tell!
I never had the chance to hear Coltrane live. When I first got into jazz, his music felt like it was speaking a language I didn’t understand. But a few years after his passing, during a psilocybin trip, something clicked. It was like Coltrane’s sound finally broke through to me, and in that moment, I truly heard him. From that day on, I was never the same.
You just posted a classic essay that is perfect for the times in so many ways and I am sure will endure for years to come. Thank you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiTj3enBing
The urgency, fight and insistence of this music assails me, shouting, "Join us! We can fight our way free! Get up, pick up your axe and throw yourself against our enemy!" All the players join in with drive and a rhythm that doesn't quit. Thanks, Bret. I'll play my part.
Bret....ahhh..superb! As soon as i hear this I start to cry. I've been listening tp Trane since around 1960. Thank you, friend. I heard Trane live four or five times, including one gig with Archie Shepp. Whooo!
Let the sound pull you out of the chaos and into something quieter, something more real.
Then, let the music inspire action. Because if Coltrane teaches us anything, it’s that survival isn’t passive.
Well said, Brian.
Well said, Bret!
Fantastic article, Bret! Thank you for writing and putting this out. It reminds me of the time, in retrospect, my transition from adolescence to adulthood when my life absolutely turned to shit. I was drowning spiritually, physically, socially, financially, professionally, familially, with addictions, emotionally, in anguish without anyone I could talk to. Thankfully, the music of John Coltrane pulled me through that time period, reached into the depths of my heart, and gave me spirit and a fight, and an upward outlook. Records like ALS, Crescent, Transitions, Coltrane's Sound, even Giant Steps inspired in me courage, and revealed that things weren't as bad as I had painted for myself. Thanks again!
Jazz is an expression of personal achievement. It is intellectual and spiritual athleticism combined with grace of perception. What a jazz musician finds is a form so deep and inclusive that it sucks into itself all the world’s music. It sublimates these musics into an idiom that blends blues and improvisation. A practitioner of jazz is much like a yogi who undertakes a life of contemplation. When musicians arrive together to make music they bring their valise of masteries, their scales and modes, their real and fake books, their tools and tuners. Nowadays we have no guides except jazz musicians. The world may not know this. But WE do. We do our best to live the ezz-thetic life. We err, often. In order to comprehend our humanity we court exposure to our darkest impulses. It is that friction between the parts of ourselves that inspires music rich with humor, terror and the sense of being momentary. The greatest jazz musicians are so individualized in their tone and concept that they know they are unique. They stand with the other towers of musical ideas.
Ahhhhhh, thank you Brett.
Freddie Hubbard said that Trane had a sound that cut right through you. The “Love Supreme album is a glorious sonic landscape. Thanks for this post, Bret!
James, it certainly holds up. I think it’s one of those eternal works that will still be an inspiration for centuries to come.
Thank you for getting us to remember what this music of Coltrane’s has always done for us. It changed my life, and still manifests hope and peace daily……
It’s always been a continuing source of inspiration and salvation, and I’m sure it will continue to be so. Thanks for commenting and blessings to your family. And most importantly, good health!
Thanks for the timely reminder, Bret. Its not that I have somehow forgotten your premise, but I do think I'll take a stroll over to the turntable and dial up a dose of A Love Supreme. I haven't actually listened to it for some time. Better later than never. I figure that in 1964 you were about 15 years of age. Did you hear Coltrane live? If so, do tell!
I never had the chance to hear Coltrane live. When I first got into jazz, his music felt like it was speaking a language I didn’t understand. But a few years after his passing, during a psilocybin trip, something clicked. It was like Coltrane’s sound finally broke through to me, and in that moment, I truly heard him. From that day on, I was never the same.
You just posted a classic essay that is perfect for the times in so many ways and I am sure will endure for years to come. Thank you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiTj3enBing
Monk once told Sonny Rollins, without music, life ain't shit.
I am suspended in the world between Tony Scott and Paul Desmond and late Coltrane and Sun Ra. All can heal
Fo sure