John Coltrane's spiritual-sonic quest

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At my urging, a Naija friend once attended the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in Oakland, California. I don't recall all of her impressions but basically it boiled down to the fact that Coltrane's sainthood disturbed her Christian sensibilities. Her other major issue was that the white congregants nearly outnumbered the black congregants... 


I am embarrassed to say that I don't know much about Coltrane or Jazz for that matter. But I hope to learn more. I have a fascination with Coltrane's spiritual-sonic quest, some of which is captured in the interview and documentary posted below. Part 1 of the documentary recounts one of my favorite quotes from popular Afro-culture. Its an example of what can happen when a sanctified visionary (John Coltrane) clashes with a profane visionary (Mile Davis). So here's how it went down. Coltrane was known for playing these super long solos that apparently irritated Miles Davis. One night Coltrane confesses to Davis that he doesn't know how to shorten his solos. Davis shoots back, "Take the motherfucker [saxophone] outta your mouth." Gotta luv MIles! 

Coltrane interview: "I would like to strengthen my roots"

Part 1 "I [Coltrane's cousin Mary] always say thats why he was a genius, because he was raised by women"



Part 2 "Do you feel angry?"

tags: jazz, john coltrane, music, miles davis