7/17/07 marks the 40th Anniversary of John William Coltrane’s death at the age of 40. I noticed there has been little to no national press concerning this somewhat moribund fact that he died of primordia hepatoma on 4 AM on the 17th in 1967. Myself being a relatively devoted maniac fan of his music, I thought to write a small thing here, out of respect.
Coltrane’s music is one of the only I’ve found in the entire lexicon of recorded music to cause such … specific reactions. Reactions that ultimately make me ask some pretty deep questions; how can a horn do that? I wonder constantly. But rarely in a Coltrane performance do I not find myself digging inward a little bit, as if to open up a deeper spot in my soul from which to listen. And the emotions — spiritual, intellectual, cultural, all seem to manifest in unity through his music.
Yet the ‘late’ period of Coltrane’s music seemed to become more confounding and confusing, stretching and reaching — some of it almost unlistenable in its constant negating of its own ideas. Melodies are built and destroyed, chords are dissected only to find nothing at the end, modes run in deafening rage. All for what?
I often call Coltrane the ‘Dark Angel’ of jazz. I don’t know if it’s true and I don’t have a claim to any of the jazz scene; I’m just a young listener. But it’s hard for me to find it coincidental that John passed on at the prefact of the summer of love, that his leaving was on the eve of Sgt. Peppers, Jimi Hendrix and the great coming of the “Hippy” Sect. And also that jazz’s movements seemed to be changing towards more militancy in its expression. It seemed as though the civil movement rights began to come about, Coltrane reacted and shared his own feelings — with music.
The ‘Dark Angel’ of jazz because he seemed to put a period on the sentence of what jazz was. Undoubtedly, more carried on after — Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane. And Miles was to creat “Bitches Brew” as well. But as far as jazz proper, meaning the idiom of swing and all that, it seems like Coltrane was kind of like… putting it to rest. To be reborn, I suppose, but since jazz’s commercial element was declining, I’m still unsure as to what it’s been reborn into.
I suggest these ideas while at the same time putting my finger on the exact contrary point: that all the while Coltrane was making this befuddling sound, the ‘inner’ voice of his music seemed to be completely serene and at peace. And the greater point: few if no other musicians ever have been able to express the yin and the yang of a creator’s heart more clearly. In some of his best moments, you can almost feel the light and the dark at exactly the same instant.
So now he’s been gone from this planet as long as he crawled and walked. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new birth for Coltrane. Forty years for his music to be reborn, to respark the deep connection between spirituality and sound — a thing long since squashed from popular care or concern. I truly can see this taking place, and his music returning to the ears of the listeners; and no way a monumental day like this would pass unnoticed.
Today is a good day to listen to Coltrane, and to give thanks for the great legacy he left behind, to all his fans, and to the great service he did to his own soul in choosing to climb the scales the way he did.
c2007 Paul DeCirce
