Track Listing

1. Acknowledgement Part 1
2. Resolution Part 2
3. Pursuance Part 3
4. Psalm Part 4

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48973 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Running time: 33 minutes

CD Description
A LOVE SUPREME is the essential example of the genius of John Coltrane. In what has become the apotheosis of jazz music, this eminently accessible work bridges the gap between music and spirituality, between art and life. With the ultimateincarnation of the jazz quartet, Coltrane brings together all of his turbulent elements into a cohesive paean to spirituality, one which is fully appreciable by the uninitiated.
A LOVE SUPREME is a 33-minute work divided into four movements. "Acknowledgment" starts the album with a heraldic summoning from Coltrane's tenor saxophone, full and joyous, which approximates the tone of the prayer he provides in the album's liner notes. The solo that follows reveals an artist whose spiritual depth and emotional urgency are matched by an adherence to logic and a resolve to achieve one goal above all--communication. Each simple musical statement is either followed by a motivic development or countered with a conversational response. Coltrane climaxes with a distilled four-note motif echoing the album's title, which he plays with by sequencing it through a wide array of tonalities. Finally, the band comes in, reiterating this idea, chanting the mantra "A Love Supreme".
"Acknowledgment" is followed by the torrential release of "Resolution", whose melody Coltrane fervently states to the animated accompaniment of his superb rhythm section. Laying the groundwork is drummer Elvin Jones, who approximates the effect of multiple percussionists feedingoff of each other, creating an enormous texture of rhythm. McCoy Tyner's colourful piano clusters act as gusts of wind supporting Trane's soaring expressions. Bassist Jimmy Garrision takes the low road, keeping everyone on track. With support like this, Coltrane is free to explore the uncharted depths of his soul. On "Resolution", we can hear the very fabric of Trane's voice being stretched to the limit, as if even the horn which he has mastered is not a worthy enough vehicle for this man's spirit.
The rousing "Pursuance" featuressome vigorously swinging playing from Tyner, furiously followed by Coltrane's climaxes in an inspired hurling of ideas.Bassist Garrison brings us to A LOVE SUPREME's conclusion, an extended "Psalm" that acts as a resolved denouement in which Trane slowly muses over a lush bed of tranquil sounds--almost as if he were reflecting upon the wisdom achieved at this apex of his spiritual journey. Although the music is slowed, the level of intensity is maintained, as if we've reached a plateau upon which we may ponder what is pronounced in the liner notes, "Elation--Elegance--Exaltation--All from God". Via John Coltrane.

Customer Reviews

Follow that
OK, it's 1964, and Bebop has come a long way. We are six years after Coltrane recorded Kind of Blue with Miles, and it would be another five years before Miles records the next milestone: In A Silent Way. Tunes seem to be getting longer and longer...and with A Love Supreme John Coltrane finally produces a recording that gives himself free rein to really explore the furthest recesses from seed ideas. This is a very spiritual album, there seem to be no constraints.

Most of the four tunes begin with a basic theme, which is quickly jettisoned as Coltrane's creative juices start to flow.
There are some astounding sections on this CD, the musicians almost seem to be jostling for position at the mic, and yet they meld organically together. There are calm, meditative sections where we feel the gentle ebb and flow of notes between the players. There are parts where Coltrane's sax just 'goes' and blasts out a barrage of notes that are like a musical tsunami. We have emotive swells from McCoy Tyner's angular piano stabs elevating and pushing. Jimmy Garrison's nagging bass manages to add both urgency and solidity. There is some excellent effervescent and elastic drumming from the great Elvin Jones who manages the trick of creating and maintaining endless dynamic openings.

I have lost count how many times I have played this album over the years, but it still sounds fresh and new. The recording is Coltrane at the height of his powers, and the whole album boils over with invention. It may sound like a cliche, but it really does feel like a kind of spiritual roller coaster... immersive, visceral and exhilarating. Wow.

Questing, cresting, waves of spiritual sound
Coltrane's high water mark of spiritual searching, where `sheets of sound' and esoteric musicality merge with the spirit of the 60's beat/hippy influenced quest for inner knowledge, both free and yet beautifully structured.

As a drummer I've always enjoyed this album as much for the interaction of the sublime rhythm section as for Coltrane's own kaleidoscopic psychedelic explosiveness. I also love the endearingly off-key mumbling of the vocal refrain "A Love Supreme". Elvin Jones is just incredible, as are Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner (I saw Tyner in the early 90's in Cambridge, and he was still ploughing the furrow first broken by this band way back in the mid-sixties, and even then - as now - it sounded fresh, vigourous, vital, transformative, exciting).

Jazz isn't dead, it's there in the ether, waiting for you to connect with it (funny, how so much jazz went hand in hand with 'connections' of other kinds too). Coltrane and co really connect on this monumental recording, making this essential music, 'nuff said!

Powerful and moving- one of the greatest achievements in music history
This album is often coupled with Miles Davis' Kind of Blue as one of the greatest undertakings in jazz history. The two albums have been jostling for superiority ever since they were rightly recognised as classics. While Kind of Blue has a understated elegance years beyond its time, it misses something that Coltrane's masterwork has in abundance- love.

My overriding experience of Kind of Blue is that it is probably the biggest "grower-onner" in music history; an album that just gets better and better and better. A Love Supreme however, captivated me from the outset. The bold opening tells us we are in for something special and it doesn't lie. The album just continues to soar, never letting up, never dropping.

Coltrane's suite was made with so much love that it if you don't fall for it straight away, there is probably something wrong with your CD player. I put it up there with Michaelagelo's sistine chapel, Wagner's Ring, and Kubrick's 2001 as one of the greatest artistic achievements in history.

So, when you feel like there is no love in the world, just stick this on nice and loud- awesome.

Man, I take music way too seriously.....