"A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane (February, 1965)

Dad's Take:

John Coltrane claimed that this album was inspired by a turn to spirituality following a drug overdose. Whatever the cause, this is a masterful work by Trane's classic quartet.

Improvisational jazz is sometimes not the easiest to listen to for somebody like me who is untrained in the form. It often sounds like everybody is doing his own thing. But that's kind of the point. They do their own thing, but create a unified sound

I like this album best when Trane is playing his sax. The drum work, although amazing, often sounds a little busy to me, although the solo in "Pursuance" blows me away, followed as it is by a cool mellow bass solo. But Coltrane's sax is melodic and beautiful, and sounds at times very much like the prayer that this recording is for him. My favorite track is the fourth part of the suite, "Psalm." It is dramatic and cinematic, with Coltrane's prayerful sax playing over a stormy rhythm section.

Most of the jazz we've reviewed before this has been fairly easy. This is much more difficult, kind of hardcore jazz. I can definitely appreciate how great these players are, but the combined effect probably works bets for people who are much more experienced with jazz.

At times, listening to this album feels like I'm sitting in a class that's two levels too high. I can follow along, but I don't quite grasp it all. My ear isn't sure what to focus on, especially when there's no sax, kind of like sitting in a room where everybody is talking at once. Important things are being said, but it's hard to follow the words for me, and the effort can be exhausting.

I definitely see why this is considered one of the greatest jazz albums ever, but it's going to take more than one listen for me to really get it. That's OK. Great art is often like that.

Brad's Take:


My dad made a good point though. This isn't beginners jazz. This is a few steps ahead of the jazz music that I typically listen to. This is the math-rock of jazz. It's wildly creative, experimental, and... mathematical. 

John Coltrane and his band are each incredibly talented musicians, for sure, but sometimes on this album, it felt like sometimes they were all trying to get in the spotlight at the same time. Parts of the songs just sounded overly cluttered with solo-like playing, and it kinda stressed me out with how fast paced and wild it sounded. It was like standing in the middle of the sidewalk in New York City, with hundreds of people walking past you, bumping into you, and sometimes almost knocking you down. Although some parts of the songs felt extremely cluttered, there were plenty of times when they'd let each other shine on their own. The album is mostly all of them playing together though, and those parts sound great.

While this album's improvisational aspects sometimes wow you, more often than not, it sounds like they're not all on the same page until a few minutes into the song. Maybe that's just my untrained ear telling me, "No, Brad. This is all wrong and too weird." Or maybe I am just naive and don't understand it completely.

Either way though, the album isn't bad. In fact, it's actually really interesting and kind of fun to listen to. I need to listen to it a few more times to see if I eventually will actually understand it and appreciate it more.