A Love Supreme

Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: Template:Start date | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Crescent1964The John Coltrane Quartet Plays1965studioA Love SupremeJohn Coltrane - A Love Supreme.jpgA blue-tinted black-and-white photograph of Coltrane's face looking to the left, with the logo "A Love Supreme/John Coltrane" written in white bold Arial across the top.John ColtraneTemplate:Start dateDecember 9, 1964Van Gelder (Englewood Cliffs)*Modal jazz

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A Love Supreme is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones.

A Love Supreme was released by Impulse! Records in January 1965. Referred to as the saxophonist's "definitive tone poem," it ranks among Coltrane's best-selling albums and is widely considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of jazz and one of the greatest albums ever made.<ref name=":0" />

Composition

Elvin Jones in a black suit performing behind a drum kit

Elvin Jones (pictured in 1976)

A Love Supreme is a through-composed<ref name="xgau"/> suite<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref> in four parts: Template:Anchor"Acknowledgement" (which includes the oral chant that gives the album its name), "Resolution", "Pursuance", and "Psalm". Coltrane plays tenor saxophone on all parts. One critic has written that the album was intended to represent a struggle for purity, an expression of gratitude, and an acknowledgement that the musician's talent comes from a higher power.<ref name="kahn" /> The album’s improvisational and spiritual intensity has led some to liken it to glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, as it conveys a profound sense of ecstatic devotion.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This sacred quality has led it to become the “central text” of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Coltrane's home in Dix Hills, Long Island, may have inspired the album.<ref name="kahn">Kahn 2002</ref> Another influence may have been Ahmadiyya Islam.<ref name="HammerSafi2013">Template:Cite book</ref>

According to assistant music editor at Time Out John Lewis, the album "pulls off the rare trick of being utterly uncompromising yet completely accessible."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

The album begins with the bang of a gong (tam-tam) and cymbal washes on the first track, "Acknowledgement". Jimmy Garrison enters on double bass with the four-note motif that lays the foundation of the movement. Coltrane begins a solo. He plays variations on the motif until he repeats the four notes thirty-six times. The motif then becomes the vocal chant "a love supreme", sung by Coltrane accompanying himself through overdubs nineteen times.<ref>Porter, 231–249.</ref> According to Rolling Stone, this movement's four-note theme is "the humble foundation of the suite".<ref name="RS500"/>

In the fourth and final movement, "Psalm", Coltrane performs what he calls a "musical narration". Lewis Porter calls it a "wordless recitation".<ref>Porter, 244.</ref> The devotional is included in the liner notes. Coltrane "plays" the words of the poem on saxophone but doesn't speak them. Some scholars have suggested that this performance is an homage to the sermons of African-American preachers.<ref>Porter, 246–247.</ref> The poem (and, in his own way, Coltrane's solo) ends with the cry, "Elation. Elegance. Exaltation. All from God. Thank you God. Amen."<ref>Porter, 248.</ref>

A Love Supreme was categorized by Rockdelux as modal jazz, avant-garde jazz, free jazz, hard bop, and post-bop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other performances

An alternative version of "Acknowledgement" was recorded the next day on December 10 with tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and a second bassist, Art Davis. This version omitted Coltrane chanting "a love supreme"; he preferred the quartet version with the chant, placing that on the issued album. There are two known live recordings of the "Love Supreme" suite. For years the only known live recording of the "Love Supreme" suite was of a performance at the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes in Juan-les-Pins, France, on July 26, 1965. On October 29, 2002, the album was reissued as a remastered deluxe edition by Impulse! Records with this live performance and the alternate takes on a bonus disc.<ref>A Love Supreme Deluxe Edition. 1997; Impulse! Records 314 589 945-2, back cover notes.</ref> A further iteration with more studio breakdowns and overdubs was issued as a three-disc complete masters edition released by Impulse! on November 20, 2015.<ref>Porter, 249.</ref> The other known live recording of the suite was recorded October 2, 1965, at The Penthouse in Seattle. The set was recorded by saxophonist Joe Brazil. This live performance was released on October 22, 2021, by Impulse! as A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reception and legacy

Template:Music ratings Released in January 1965 by Impulse! Records,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A Love Supreme became one of the most acclaimed jazz records,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and contemporary critics hailed it as one of the important albums of post-war jazz.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By 1970, it had sold about 500,000 copies, far exceeding Coltrane's usual sales of 30,000,<ref>Porter, 232.</ref> although it never charted on the Billboard 200.<ref name="xgau"/> It has since been regarded as Coltrane's masterpiece<ref name="Gayford">Template:Cite journal</ref> and is "without question Coltrane's most beloved album", according to Robert Christgau, who adds that it "cemented 'Trane's divine status in Japan".<ref name="xgau"/>

Template:Music ratings A Love Supreme was widely recognized as a work of deep spirituality and analyzed with religious subtext, although cultural studies scholars Richard W. Santana and Gregory Erickson argued that the "avant-garde jazz suite" could be interpreted otherwise.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to music professor Ingrid Monson of Harvard University, the album was an exemplary recording of modal jazz.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Nick Dedina wrote on the Rhapsody web site that the music ranged from free jazz and hard bop to sui generis gospel music in "an epic aural poem to man's place in God's plan".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Calling it a "legendary album-long hymn of praise", Rolling Stone said that "Coltrane's majestic, often violent blowing (famously described as 'sheets of sound') is never self-aggrandizing" and that he is "aloft with his classic quartet", "soar[ing] with nothing but gratitude and joy" on a compelling journey for listeners.<ref name="RS500" /> The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985) said that "each man performs with eloquence and economy", while calling the album "the masterpiece from the quartet's studio work", "the first comprehensive statement of Coltrane's spiritual concerns", and "the cornerstone of many Coltrane collections".<ref name=RSJRG>Template:Cite book</ref> On the other hand, jazz critic Tom Hull said that he has not much considered the album "spiritual" but rather "the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded".<ref name="Hull"/>

A Love Supreme has appeared on professional listings of the greatest albums. In 2003, it was ranked number 47 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;<ref name="RS500">Staff. RS 500: 47) A Love Supreme Template:Webarchive. Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 5, 2010.</ref> maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> re-ranking at number 66 in a 2020 reboot of the list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> NME ranked it number 188 on a similar list in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The manuscript for the album was included in the National Museum of American History's "Treasures of American History" collection at the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name="NMAH">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2015, the album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is Coltrane's second album to be included after Giant Steps in 2005.<ref name="2nd">Template:Cite web</ref> It was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.<ref name="Dimery">Template:Cite book</ref> It was voted number 85 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref>

File:Carlos Santana-2 1978 by Chris Hakkens.jpg

Carlos Santana (1978), one of many rock musicians to have been deeply influenced by the album

According to Joachim-Ernst Berendt, the album's hymn-like quality permeated modern jazz and rock music.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As Christgau explains, the record was "adored by American hippies from the Byrds and Carlos Santana on down, and served as theme music to Lester Bangs's wake at CBGB".<ref name="xgau"/> Musicians such as Joshua Redman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and U2,<ref>Palmer, Robert, "A Tribute to John Coltrane's Spirit", The New York Times, September 25, 1987.</ref> who mention the album in their song "Angel of Harlem",<ref>Kahn, xxii.</ref> have mentioned the influence of the album on their own work. Both Santana and fellow guitarist John McLaughlin have called the album one of their biggest early influences and recorded Love Devotion Surrender in 1973 as a tribute.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "Every so often this ceases to be a jazz record and is more avant-garde contemporary classical," said Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy. "I love the combination of abstract piano that's all sort of 'clang', and weird chords with wailing saxophone over the top."<ref name="Thornton">Template:Cite journal</ref>

In The Penguin Guide to Jazz, Richard Cook and Brian Morton gave A Love Supreme a rare "crown" rating but asked whether it was "the greatest jazz album of the modern period..or the most overrated?" Miles Davis, Coltrane's former bandleader, said the record "reached out and influenced those people who were into peace. Hippies and people like that". Christgau, writing in 2020, said, "it's meditative rather than freewheeling, with each member of his classic quartet instructed to embark on his own harmonically mapped excursion and the title set to a chanted four-note melody you could hum in your sleep. I'm on my fourth consecutive play with no signs of tune fatigue as I write, plus my wife loves it. All true, all remarkable. But how much you value it, I expect, depends on how much faith you place in your own spirituality." He concluded that the next time he will listen to the album "may well depend on who dies when".<ref name="xgau"/>

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Coltrane and published by Jowcol Music (BMI)

Original LP

Side one

No.	Recorded	Take number	Title	Length
1.	December 9, 1964	90243	Part 1: "Acknowledgement"	7:47
2.	December 9, 1964	90244‒7	Part 2: "Resolution"	7:22

Side two

No.	Recorded	Take number	Title	Length
1.	December 9, 1964	90245‒1	Part 3: "Pursuance"/Part 4: "Psalm"	17:53

2002 deluxe edition

Disc one

No.	Recorded	Take number	Title	Length
1.	December 9, 1964	90243	Part 1: "Acknowledgement"	7:43
2.	December 9, 1964	90244‒7	Part 2: "Resolution"	7:20
3.	December 9, 1964	90245‒1	Part 3: "Pursuance"	10:42
4.	December 9, 1964	90245‒1	Part 4: "Psalm"	7:05

Disc two

No.	Recorded	Take number	Title	Length
1.	July 26, 1965	n/a	Introduction by André Francis	1:13
2.	July 26, 1965	n/a	"Acknowledgement" (Live)	6:11
3.	July 26, 1965	n/a	"Resolution" (Live)	11:36
4.	July 26, 1965	n/a	"Pursuance" (Live)	21:30
5.	July 26, 1965	n/a	"Psalm" (Live)	8:49
6.	December 9, 1964	90244‒4	"Resolution" (Alternate take)	7:25
7.	December 9, 1964	90244‒6	"Resolution" (Breakdown)	2:13
8.	December 10, 1964	90246‒1	"Acknowledgement" (Alternate take)	9:09
9.	December 10, 1964	90246‒2	"Acknowledgement" (Alternate take)	9:22

The Complete Masters (2015)

Disc 1 – The Original Stereo Album, Impulse! AS-77

1. "Acknowledgement" – 7:42
2. "Resolution" – 7:20
3. "Pursuance" – 10:41
4. "Psalm" – 7:05

 – Original Mono Reference Masters

1. "Pursuance" – 10:42
2. "Psalm" – 7:02

Disc 2 – Quartet Session, December 9, 1964

1. "Acknowledgement" (vocal overdub 2) – 2:00
2. "Acknowledgement" (vocal overdub 3) – 2:05
3. "Resolution" (take 4/ alternate) – 7:25
4. "Resolution" (take 6/ breakdown) – 2:13
5. "Psalm" (undubbed version) – 6:59

 – Sextet Session, December 10, 1964

1. "Acknowledgement" (Take 1 / alternate) – 9:24
2. "Acknowledgement" (Take 2 / alternate) – 9:47
3. "Acknowledgement" (Take 3 / breakdown with studio dialogue) – 1:26
4. "Acknowledgement" (Take 4 / alternate) – 9:04
5. "Acknowledgement" (Take 5 / false start) – 0:34
6. "Acknowledgement" (Take 6 / alternate) – 12:33

Disc 3 – Live at Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes, July 26, 1965

1. Introduction by André Francis and John Coltrane – 1:13
2. "Acknowledgement (Live)" – 6:12
3. "Resolution (Live)" – 11:37
4. "Pursuance (Live)" – 21:30
5. "Psalm (Live)" – 8:49

Disc 3 is included only with the "Super Deluxe Edition" version of this release.

Personnel

Close-up, worms eye-view of McCoy Tyner at a piano, backlit

McCoy Tyner played piano throughout both sessions for A Love Supreme

The John Coltrane Quartet

• John Coltrane – bandleader, liner notes, vocals, tenor saxophone<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• McCoy Tyner – piano
• Jimmy Garrison – double bass
• Elvin Jones – drums, gong, timpani

Additional personnel

• Archie Shepp – tenor saxophone on alternate takes of "Acknowledgement"
• Art Davis – double bass on alternate takes of "Acknowledgement"
• Rudy Van Gelder – engineering and mastering
• Bob Thiele – production and cover photo<ref name="nprphotos">Template:Cite news</ref>
• George Gray/Viceroy – cover design
• Victor Kalin – gatefold illustration
• Joe Lebow – liner design

Reissues

• Erick Labson – digital remastering (CD reissue)
• Kevin Reeves – mastering (SACD)
• Michael Cuscuna – liner notes, production, and remastering (deluxe edition)
• Joe Alper – photography (CD reissue)
• Jason Claiborne – graphics (CD reissue)
• Hollis King – art direction (CD reissue)
• Lee Tanner – photography (CD reissue)
• Ken Druker – production (deluxe edition)
• Esmond Edwards – photography (deluxe edition)
• Ashley Kahn – liner notes and production (deluxe edition)
• Peter Keepnews – notes editing (deluxe edition)
• Hollis King – art direction (deluxe edition)
• Bryan Koniarz – production (deluxe edition)
• Edward O'Dowd – design (deluxe edition)
• Mark Smith – production assistance (deluxe edition)
• Sherniece Smith – art coordination and production (deluxe edition)
• Chuck Stewart – photography (deluxe edition)
• Bill Levenson – reissue supervisor (SACD)
• Cameron Mizell – production coordination (SACD)
• Ron Warwell – design (SACD)
• Isabelle Wong – package design (SACD)

See also

• 1965 in jazz
• "Angel of Harlem" – a 1989 U2 song referencing the album
• A Love Surreal – an album by Bilal
• Blue World, an album recorded between Crescent and A Love Supreme released in 2019
• Concept album
• Love of God

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead link

Further reading

• Template:Cite web
• Whyton, Tony (2013) Beyond A Love Supreme: John Coltrane and the Legacy of an Album. Oxford University Press. Template:ISBN

External links

• Template:Discogs master