The John Coltrane Church

[deacon blues]

John Coltrane is not a household name, but to jazz musicians, and some mystics it might be familiar. In the 1950's and 1960's Coltrane was a ground breaking saxophonist, whose emotional style often inspired listeners and other musicians feel a "spiritual high." Coltrane himself developed an individual Spiritual belief system that was actually organized into a church after he died. See: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/91584686 ... n-coltrane

"Franzo and Marina King were already jazz fans on the night that changed their lives. This was back when San Francisco was the Harlem of the West, and the Fillmore District was packed with places to hear jazz. On the couple's first wedding anniversary, in 1965, they went to hear John Coltrane play.
They managed to get seats in the front row. And that night, they say, the Holy Spirit walked out with Coltrane onto the stage of the Jazz Workshop.
"I think we were both slain in the spirit," Franzo King recalls. "It was like getting caught up in a rainstorm. And we didn't know if it was going to bring a flood or flowers."

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Organizing as a church has its benefits. I know very little about this, other than having listened to Coltrane's music for hundreds of hours. I'm just putting it out there FYI.

[RubinHighlander]

Thanks for the link DB - Coltrane is spoken here!

I played lead trombone in the WSU jazz band for a few years, back in the mid 80's.

[wtfluff]

Hmm...

If equating music with "religion" is a thing, then I'm way more religious than I thought.

I "know" that hundreds, if not thousands upon millions of "Musics" are True™.

[deacon blues]

Cool comments. Jazz Band was my peak experience in College, RH. And music can be very religious and/or spiritual for me too WTF. It just seems like the Church over controls it, like everything else. No Brass, no guitars, no pop songs, etc. Definitely no Coltrane. Back in my Ricks College days, our jazz combo had a great, burning Coltrane tune_ "Impressions." We liked to finish our programs, like after the closing prayer, with it, but we were told by our tour director that it wasn't appropriate after prayer to play a fast intense chart. So-- Ix-nay at-they.

[RubinHighlander]

Cool comments. Jazz Band was my peak experience in College, RH. And music can be very religious and/or spiritual for me too WTF. It just seems like the Church over controls it, like everything else. No Brass, no guitars, no pop songs, etc. Definitely no Coltrane. Back in my Ricks College days, our jazz combo had a great, burning Coltrane tune_ "Impressions." We liked to finish our programs, like after the closing prayer, with it, but we were told by our tour director that it wasn't appropriate after prayer to play a fast intense chart. So-- Ix-nay at-they.

Yeah man, there's really something profound and amazing when you get into a good combo and those classic jazz arrangements; when you know the scale well and can ride your adlib notes around on it, like guiding a kayak down a river. That connection is quite cosmic and transcendent, like nothing else. I'll never forget when our Jr. High jazz band teacher took us all to SLC to see Count Basie (1979 I think it was); he was getting really old, but man that band was rad!

I do miss it sometimes, but it would take me several months to learn how to ride that bike again. I'm not sure I ever will, as I've moved on to other transcendent experiences. I'm glad I made that connection with Jazz and Classical music at a young age; it's been a good foundation for deeper musical discoveries in all the other genres.

Out in the spa on a snowy winter night a couple of weeks ago, with Miles Davis streaming in the phones and some herbal magic streaming in my head; Kind of Blue is still one of my top ten albums I'd want to have on a desert isle.

[deacon blues]

Kind of Blue is inspiring! As a young man I used to ask myself, "How come I feel the Spirit more at a Jazz concert or Symphony concert than in Sacrament mtg?"