Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 21 Nov 2015

A Love Supreme : The Creation of John Coltrane’s Classic Album by Ashley Kahn

It’s great when two things you really love – in this case books and music – come together to create a another, wonderful experience. Ashley Kahn’s book is a work of love, a dedicated journey through the heart of creation and a fitting tribute to the giant talent that was John Coltrane.

I first heard Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in the very early 1970s – almost ten years after the record was first released. In a small flat in Smethwick, late at night after some very cheap red wine this album was put on and it literally changed my life. I was transported – what was this astonishing noise, this challenging, sprawling, squalling, beautiful racket? When it finished, I just wanted it back on again...and then again. The album led me into the world of be-bop and to my ultimate love, Miles Davis, and it’s been with me everywhere I've gone since. I expect it to be playing when I’m dying and I hope someone plays it in my memory.

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Of course, Coltrane’s masterpiece is a spiritual outpouring but it’s not one you can associate crudely with any specific religion. To me it’s a humanist classic – a hymn to what it’s possible for human beings to achieve and to feel. In the years since I heard it I’ve learned a lot about the context in which Coltrane produced this work and the status his music had within the civil rights movement and this adds a fantastic added dimension to what is already a brilliant and complex work. It’s also true that the saxophonist was a troubled man who would eventually succumb to his demons and much of that internal turmoil can be found in this composition.

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Ashley Kahn’s book is a compilation of great original sources – photographs, interviews and transcripts. Coltrane’s drummer, Elvin Jones, makes a valuable contribution to understanding how the album came together and he writes the foreword for this book. Pianist McCoy Tyner also chips in with his memories.

I love this book as a companion to the music. Get yourself a copy of the original album (don’t get some of the mangled versions that add tracks in or pile up live throw-aways ) sit back and just listen and the listen again. After you’ve done that, open this book and begin to explore the album in more depth, join Coltrane and his band in the studio – it can be a breathless ride.

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The book was published in 2002 by Granta and can be purchased as a first edition for under £20.

Terry Potter

November 2015

 

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