John Coltrane presents “A Love Supreme” as a “Thank you” to God. Recored in one session on December 9, 1964 and later produced that next year Coltrane put together a musical masterpiece that impacted the jazz community. Suffering many years from a drug and alcohol addiction, Coltrane defines “A Love Supreme” as a spiritual declaration that his musical devotion was now intertwined with his faith in God
The Album is divided into four movements, “Acknowledgement, “Resolution”, “Pursuance”, and “Psalm”. Accompanied by Coltrane’s quartet that consist of pianist McCoy Turner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison.
The First movement consisted of Coltrane improvising on a repetitive four note bass motif. He continues the improvisation until the last couple stanzas in the song were he starts to repeat the same riffs but in different registrars/keys until finally ending the song by chanting “A Love Supreme”. This set the foundation for the Love Supreme Album by introducing the listener Coltrane new spiritual awakening. As the Second and Third Movement start to play I notice that each intrument take on different roles switching from the melody to the harmony ultemitly changing the rhythm of the song. Each being able to solo and showcase their addition to the musical journey Coltrane has created. Almost Echoing Coltrane old style of playing while introducing the new. In The final movement “Pslams” Coltrane preforms a “musical narration” ,unlike any of his other works, it includes the writing of liner notes and an accompanying poem. This is where Coltrane expresses his spirituality. The other musicians are careful not to overpower Coltrane by playing softer than in any other movements. They supported Coltrane’s variations on a drowning modal melody. The simplicity of the movement “Psalms” represents Coltrane new rebirth.
Personally I enjoyed listening and digesting Coltrane musical masterpiece “A Supreme Love”. I believe that Coltrane, despite his known “abrupt” style of playing, “Psalms” shows the growth he has made as an artist. Many musicians cannot break past their own limits and explore a different version of themselves through their music. However, Coltrane saw past himself by incorporating something spiritually deeper that many artists overlook. Having no prior knowledge of “A Love Supreme”, compared to his other pieces, I could feel the time and emotions that Coltrane put into the piece and the message he was trying to coney.
