JOHN COLTRANE
A Love Supreme – Live In Seattle IMPULSE
10/10
HE was large and gentle, Melody Maker reported, most unlike his music. Rather than busy and animated, the John Coltrane who played host to the musician and writer Mike Hennessey in a French hotel room was placid, devotional and calm. He unselfconsciously rehearsed his music for an hour. He ate a meal of egg yolks, soup, peaches and water, and spoke of “rediscovering” God.
His still watersalbum, a fierce unison blowout based on a simple bluesy reveille. The previous night, meanwhile, Coltrane and his quartet had baffled the audience at the Antibes Jazz Festival by playing his piece in its entirety, pushing at its boundaries and busting them with 15 further exploratory minutes. The audience and organisers, expecting polished sophistications, instead found themselves witness to an ongoing search.
