The Church of St John Coltrane

[TrainedLogosmotion]

Apparently, John Coltrane, the famous Jazz musician of the 60s, is an African Orthodox saint...



Linked just below is a short 20-minute documentary on 'Saint John Coltrane'. This is wild! Seems like the Orthodox priest puts them in check towards the end by 'demoting' John to a saint.



Early on they literally worshipped him as God incarnate and describe sacred/holy manifestations like auras he had, comparing him to a Moses figure.

The church in San Francisco has a special liturgical event where they turn off all the lights and listen to Coltrane. You have to fast for 3 days before and they will check your tongue at the door to make sure it's white or you can't attend.

Not endorsing any of this. Entertainment purposes only. I really don't know what to think of it. Heretical? Most likely. Is it still beautiful in some ways? I'd say so. Only God can judge.

The album linked below is the one he wrote after giving up heroin/alcohol and prayed to God to divinely inspire him with music to help others.

The hymns, if you want to call them that, are set in these stages for the album.
1. Acknowledgement 2. Resolution 3. Pursuance 4. Psalm



I tried to link 5 different versions of the album upload here from YouTube but it keeps showing as video unavailable in my post. Just type "Love Supreme John Coltrane album" on YouTube search.

Here is the church on the old Jazz block of the west in San Fran:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/RXW37qRquYACqnT28

 

[TooFineAPoint]

Love Supreme is one of my favorite albums and well worth seeking out.

As far as I know he never held himself out to be a god or a saint or anything other than a seeker of truth.

His late period work veers towards post-modern noise garbage but remains on the side of music -- in my opinion -- barely held in check by his prior mastering of the craft and his honest exploration of a relationship with God.

That would be everything after Love Supreme (still worth trying). If you want more foursquare jazz: My Favorite Things, Africa/Brass, and Ballads are all good albums to check out.

 

[TrainedLogosmotion]

As far as I know he never held himself out to be a god or a saint or anything other than a seeker of truth.

If you got that from anything I wrote then my post was a failure! Ha. Also they don't say anything about that in the documentary either.

I don't know too much about him outside of what I linked in my post but apparently his parents were Christians and he was also a Christian. Seems like many of his songs are directly relating to language from the Bible, so I don't know if I'd say he was just a "truth seeker" because that would imply more of a woo woo take on his inspiration.

The saint and god thing was about the people venerating him, not his own self glorification. He could have indeed been divinely inspired by God or had some sort of special connection with God without being vain about it and thinking he was God incarnated or referring to himself as a saint.

The fact that people noticed something 'spiritually unique' about him and his story, like his shift towards a religious life and giving up the drugs and alcohol, isolating himself in silence and contemplation, asking God to 'communicate psalms' to him, figuratively speaking, and only then did people see things like a glowing aura are indeed a curious thing.

 

[TooFineAPoint]

If you got that from anything I wrote then my post was a failure! Ha. Also they don't say anything about that in the documentary either.

Pardon me. I was just addressing your line "Early on they literally worshipped him as God incarnate and describe sacred/holy manifestations like auras he had, comparing him to a Moses figure."

I didn't want other readers to get the impression that Coltrane was being some kind of blasphemous cretin.

It seems undeniable that he had something about him, especially towards the end of his life. The final albums are ethereal but also just hanging on.