A Love Supreme: A Review
Photo from Amazon.
Carter Zieger
It was a Sunday afternoon, I had just dragged my family to a vinyl sale to see if I could find anything that would pique my interest. As I flipped through the worn corners of old covers of all sorts—Basie, Ellington, Mingus—one album piqued my interest. I quickly pulled it from the catalog. That album was A Love Supreme by John Coltrane, which, in my opinion, is one of the most impressive works of jazz improvisation I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. Upon first listen, the music is overwhelming. So overwhelming, that it can be difficult to fully experience when first listening. This is precisely why I love listening to this album. Despite it having only four parts, the amount of musical substance to be uncovered is truly astounding and every listen adds more to the experience.
The album was recorded on December 9, 1964, and centers around Coltrane’s devotion to Christianity through music after facing many human failures such as drug abuse and alcoholism. It contains four parts—Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, and Psalm. It is a quartet that includes John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, Elvin Jones on drums and other percussion, and pianist McCoy Tyner. This group had a history of playing together live, and were excited to see what they were going to work on. “I couldn't wait to go to work at night. It was just such a wonderful experience. I mean, I didn't know what we were going to do. We couldn't really explain why things came together,” stated Tyner, regarding the recording process.
A Love Supreme begins with Part 1, titled “Acknowledgement.” It opens with this swelling crescendo of piano, gong, and cymbal, followed by a saxophone solo from Coltrane and a four note bass riff that Coltrane also incorporates into his solo, which is played in all possible keys during the song, according to “The Story of A Love Supreme” by NPR. This four note riff is present throughout the whole album, and it is clear that Coltrane intended it to be the centerpiece of each part. There seems to be four parts to this song—the opening crash and crescendo, the blaring saxophone solo opening, the slow and quiet four-note riff sung by Coltrane and played by bassist Jimmy Garrison. And then the final bass solo which sounds very raw and dies into this slow decrescendo.
The next piece is titled “Resolution.” It opens with another solo from Coltrane, which is one of my absolute favorites on the album. It is so confident and proud, as though Coltrane wanted to portray the feeling of joy he has when he makes his music or the feeling he experiences during worship. The first half of this song is incredible. It is engaging and it gets the attention of the listener and provokes the imagination. It is pushed by this quick snare-and-cymbal beat that really brings it all together. The end of the song is just okay to me. I like it, but I feel that it loses a little bit of that driving force for just a moment; however, it does pick back up towards the end.
Part three, “Pursuance,” is one of my favorite songs on the entire record. It starts with a drum solo which is made up of rolling snare hits followed by quiet crashing cymbals. I admire Elvin Jones’s work on this solo and I sincerely think he does a lot for this album and really uplifts the other musicians in the group, which is something I love in jazz drummers especially. As for the others—they also have their own respective features. The piano and tenor features are very punchy, while the double bass brings a very good close to the song with descending phrases. I love each part in this track, which makes it a non-skip for me every time.
The closing track, “Psalm,” really fits its name. The whole song feels bold—largely because of the timpani in the background mixed with Coltrane’s strong and powerful improvisation. The song itself is a little slower, compared to the other fast-paced tracks of the album. It closes with a beautiful swell of timpani, drum, and tenor as it ends and the album is done.
There is a lot of symbolism in A Love Supreme. The tracks following “Pursuance,” to me, represent Coltrane’s struggle with drugs and alcohol. “Pursuance” itself is exactly what the title describes—the pursuance of living virtuously to find peace through the morals of Christianity. “Psalm” is not only meant to praise, but to celebrate his newfound religious epiphany, which is why it sounds so different in comparison to the other overwhelming, clashy tracks.
This concludes my review for this album. If you have any interest in freestyle jazz, this is the album for you. To me it is one of the best examples of jazz improv out there. I encourage you to listen to it yourself to truly grasp the magnificence of this album, because my words alone cannot do it justice. Overall this album is 8 to 9 /10 for me. It is really great overall, but it can be a little jarring at points.
