In 1957, John Coltrane was fired from Miles Davis' band after showing up for a gig looking like hell. At that time he was a competent saxophonist building his career but the ravages of heroin and alcohol addiction finally caught up with him.
Getting kicked out of Miles Davis' band was a wake up call for him and in the liner notes of possibly his greatest solo album, "A Love Supreme,” he wrote:
"During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. ALL PRAISE TO GOD."
"A Love Supreme" sold more than a million copies and some consider it the greatest jazz album of all time as Coltrane broke all the rules and set a new standard for musicianship that still remains unsurpassed.
His thinking became much grander and more universal. During an interview months before his death in 1967, he said, "I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know that there are bad forces. I know that there are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.”
His phenomenal sax playing became a means for him to a further end as he searched for a higher path to the Supreme: “I would love to discover a process,” he said, “such that if I wanted it to rain, it would start raining. If one of my friends were sick, I would play a certain tune and he would get better.”
Coltrane explored not only world music but he did a thorough study of the world's religions. Alongside his study of Hindu musical traditions, he delved into the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the Bhagavad Gita, and Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Coltrane's openness to different traditions continued and he studied the Qur'an, the Bible, Kabbalah, and astrology with equal sincerity. He also explored Hinduism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, African history, the philosophical teachings of Plato and Aristotle, and Zen Buddhism.
In one of his last interviews before his death, when he was asked what he wanted to be, he answered, "a saint." He very soon got his wish.
After his untimely death at age 40 due to cancer, most likely exacerbated by his heroin and alcohol issues, he became venerated as a saint by the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, San Francisco, which is the only African Orthodox church that incorporates Coltrane's music and his lyrics as prayers in its liturgy.
*special thanks to Maria Ho
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