In February 1965, John Coltrane released A Love Supreme, still regarded as a jazz landmark. It broke all contemporary sales records and opened a door to a new musical era still echoing today
At just 33 minutes, it seems strange today that it should have had such impact. But it sold over half a million copies (compared with Coltrane's usual 30,000), which indicates it intersected with an important cultural moment.
Coltrane's collaborator, Archie Shepp, described jazz as "one of the most meaningful social, aesthetic contributions to America … it is antiwar; it is opposed to [the US invasion of] Vietnam; it is for Cuba; it is for the liberation of all people … Because jazz is a music itself born out of oppression, born out of the enslavement of my people."
Coltrane was a leader of the Bebop jazz movement, an adrenaline-driven style that emerged from 1940s urban clubs serving Black workers drawn into WWII factories. A Love Supreme went one step further, incorporating African and Indian modalities, opening up to Coltrane's later free jazz. In the last track, Coltrane creates a "musical narration" of a spiritual poem, playing the words through the saxophone.
Critics hated the record.
Coltrane identified with the anti-racist struggle, writing "Alabama", for instance, as a tribute to the civil rights movement. A 1960 benefit appearance by him for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was blocked by authorities.
Coltrane's influence shows up unexpectedly. It can be heard in the Beatles' 1966 track "Tomorrow Never Knows" and informed the sound of Australian punk heroes The Laughing Clowns.
Jimi Hendrix emulated Coltrane's "musical narration" with the electric guitar. And it is clearly in the stance, tone and phrasing of nearly all of today's young rappers.
Coltrane led a cultural revolution. He articulated the defiant humanity, spiritual yearning and cultural depth of Black American workers and created beautiful music that demands a hearing.
A two minute snatch of John Coltrane playing A Love Supreme can be seen on You Tube.