March 10, 2018
Spiritual
John Coltrane
My favorite music is that of John Coltrane. Coltrane was one the great innovators in jazz history and was also a very spiritual man. His spirituality is most clearly expressed in his album, A Love Supreme; however, it’s expressed in many of his other recordings as well. I have a rather extensive collection of live Coltrane recordings. One piece that appears regularly is his 1961 composition, Spiritual.
During an interview that was used in the liner notes for the first release of Spiritual, Coltrane said “It’s a piece we’d been working with for some time because I wanted to make sure before we recorded it that we would be able to get the original essence of the spiritual….” Although Coltrane spoke of a more generic aim relative to “the spiritual,” biographer Lewis Porter examined a book in Coltrane’s personal library and found that a rare alternate melody for Nobody Knows de Trouble I See was the basis for Spiritual.
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Lord. Nobody knows de trouble I see;
Nobody knows de trouble I see, Lord. Nobody know like Jesus.
Brothers, will you pray for me. Brothers will you pray for me.
Brothers will you pray of me. An’ help me to drive ole Satan away.
Mothers, will you pray for me. Mothers will you pray for me.
Mothers will you pray of me. An’ help me to drive ole Satan away.
Coltrane played both tenor and soprano saxophone and, with the exception of Spiritual, he always played any given piece on one or the other. On Spiritual he often soloed on both. It’s also interesting that in his quest to capture the essence that, in his famous stint at the Village Vanguard in 1961, he experimented with different instrumentations, including the use of instruments seldom heard in a jazz setting such as contra-bassoon.
I think Coltrane succeeded marvelously in capturing the essence of African-American spiritual music in Spiritual. His statements of the theme on tenor capture the plaintive lament of years of suffering under slavery and later of racial discrimination, and ultimately the affirmation that those laments are being heard. His soprano solos often share this, but they often soar as if in celebration. It’s jazz, so each performance is unique and is speaking the message felt at that time.
Coltrane, like many jazz musicians, had much of his early exposure to music in the church. Jazz is the first truly American music, and it draws on the African American experience, bringing in African rhythms, gospel, and the blues. I’ve read many interviews with jazz musicians on how they got drawn into music, and many cite their early experience in church music.
The beauty of jazz is that it’s never the same twice. The artist bares his/her soul, and we try to figure out what they’re saying. I may be totally misinterpreting Coltrane, and I may feel differently the next time and every time I listen. We all have different ways of trying to understand life experience and different ways of sharing our understanding with others. Coltrane used his musical talents to express empathy and compassion. God willing, we will share as compassionately and in full stewardship of our talents, whatever they may be.
Ted Vlamis
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