John Coltrane: A Love Supreme

What is it about John Coltrane? His work has taken me to other spheres from the first moment I played my sister Linda's record Alternative Takes, which had a version of "Cousin Mary," among other tracks. Linda lived in a trailer at the time, and had tons of records, making it easy to luck upon gems like this. I eventually became so enraptured that even Miles Davis never displaced him to my ears.

Knowing little about the technical aspects of jazz (I prefer it that way, since I'm a terrible musician and never will understand exactly how to read music), I do know that Coltrane has it, some kind of magic transcendent spirit. And how could it be otherwise for a guy born in Hamlet, North Carolina, the same place that a whole crew of workers were burned to death in a fire in the chicken factory where they worked because management feared they'd steal chickens on the way out the emergency exit and kept it padlocked? Have you heard about the fire?

When I lived in Philadelphia, I came across the John Coltrane House and Cultural Society, and learned that JC had lived in Philly for much of the 50s before moving on to New York City. Intrigued, I hauled up there and met Cousin Mary herself -- she ran the place, and I volunteered to hold the fort from time to time. She was amazingly friendly and happy, with big plans to make the place a cultural magnet, and though I moved to Virginia before things really got cooking, it still sticks readily to mind. On my drive today, I'll be breaking out the Coltrane, everything from Exotica to his the masterpiece, A Love Supreme.

There are excellent samples and links for "Trane" at: www.johncoltrane.com

A salute to John Coltrane!