I picked this clip for a lot of reasons. I'll begin with the composer, John Coltrane. Alive in the early-mid 20th century, Coltrane remains by far one of the most influential musicians of all time. In the genre of Jazz specifically, I'd argue the only one on an equal plane with him is Miles Davis. Coltrane took Jazz music, which was at the time all about dancing, and made it into something that you just couldn't dance to. Almost everything before him and Miles was bop- quicker, lighter Jazz meant for people to have fun with.
And then, while every other musician just played along, Coltrane took the norm and smashed it in half. New York Times writer Ben Ratliff says in his biography Coltrane, "[John] got beyond the language of the utterances... he kept playing more forcefully and originally."
There have been hundreds of historians that have said it: John Coltrane changed music forever. One man, lived only 40 years. Music had been around for thousands of years. If you do that math, it's pretty astounding to see how quickly one man influenced it all.
The piece I picked is the first number off his A Love Supreme, about a 35-minute album with four longer pieces. Their titles are the first thing that stand out: Acknowledgment, Resolution, Pursuance, Psalm. The album title suggests that these songs could be about pursuing a perfect loving relationship. I see them as the steps to solving a problem: recognizing that it's there, resolving it, pursuing any underlying causes, and then turning to beliefs and hoping it won't happen again.
The song is a little harsh on the ears, and it's meant to be. This is what Coltrane did: he took the often-soft and emotionless Jazz music that was circulating and threw it away, creating an avant garde style that many at first found appalling. It's taken me many lessons to accept the music, but comparing it to a lot of the other Jazz I have reveals how much better it is.
Good music is indeed a part of our culture. There are many forms of art, but I'd argue music is the most universal. If you took a group of 500 high school students, maybe 50 would say they paint or draw regularly. I hate to admit it, but only 150 would admit to reading regularly. But 498 would say they listen to music every single day. It's been around for thousands of years, as I said. Instruments have been part of cultures dating back to ancient African cultures and further back. Music is embedded in our culture, we're keyed in to it.
So, if it's just entertainment that a lot of people like, why is it important? That's the key, it's not just entertainment. Music can teach us lessons just as well as books or movies; you just have to look harder sometimes. What does this Coltrane piece teach me? It tells me to go beyond what our society tells us. Nothing is set in stone, don't let anyone tell you what art to make or what sounds to play.
The point is that Coltrane's music is controlled chaos. If there were no rhythm, nobody would like it. There has to be beat, it has to stay in some sort of form. This is why they had some of the most solid drummers, like Elvin Jones on A Love Supreme. If all the structure was lost, there would be no point. People would say that Coltrane is more of the useless musical garbage that is so often found these days.
So, there's a huge lesson to be learned here. As long as you don't ever lose your grounding, you're free to be as creative as you can be. Keep the foundation, keep structure, and you don't need to hold yourself in with any limits. This is Coltrane's message, now quiet down for the sax solo.
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