Spirituality and John Coltrane

Spirituality and John Coltrane

After being fired from Miles Davis's band in 1957 for his chronic use of heroin, John Coltrane was hurt tremendously. He decided it was time he quit using heroin. He took a month off from music while he went "cold turkey." During this month in the early spring of 1957, Coltrane had a momentous religious experience (Nisenson, 40). Coltrane asked God to give him "the means and privilege to make others happy through music" (Coltrane, 1995, 2). As time went on, Coltrane felt that he was leading a life that was "contradictory to the pledge and away from the esteemed path" that he had made to God (Coltrane, 1995, 2). Starting with A Love Supreme (recorded in December, 1964), Coltrane stuck to his pledge. In doing so, Coltrane would seek for the "truth" in sounds, Einstein, the Kabbalah and Sufism. Coltrane's version of God was not limited to denominational name, and this broad palette of spirituality helped guide him through his life and his music until his death on July 16, 1967.

A Little Background

John William Coltrane was born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina. He was the grandson of a Reverend, Walter Blair. Blair was the pastor of St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. John's father, John Robert Coltrane, loved to play the violin and the ukulele (Nisenson, 4). John Coltrane received some of his musical training from the Zion Church his grandfather was the pastor of. First, the young Coltrane played clarinet, and eventually moved to saxophone, which was the instrument he was associated with from that time on.

During his earliest days of playing music, the church had an impact on him. But in 1943, he moved to Philade...

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