SPIRITUAL VIBES - CHURCH OF JOHN COLTRANE | FLY

"I am not a religious person, but John Coltrane was the one man whom I worshipped as a saint or even a god." - Frank Kofsky, jazz critic for Downbeat

It is 3:40 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and The Most Reverend Bishop Franzo W. King is snuffing out the remaining candles that line the alter. The weekly Sunday divine liturgy is just under four hours old at St. John's African Orthodox Church. A total of 14 musicians are spread throughout the tiny storefront church: four tenors, a soprano, two pianos, drums, stand-up bass, a blue violin, guitar, congas, bongos and a varied assortment of tambourines and other melody makers. The choir has sung itself out. People pack every seat and spill into the aisles and outside onto the sidewalk.

"God breathes through us so completely...
so gently we hardly feel it...yet,
it is our everything.
Thought waves - heat waves -
all vibrations - all paths lead to God.
The universe has many wonders.
ELATION - ELEGANCE - EXALTATION -
All from God.
Thank you God. Amen
-John Coltrane, A Love Supreme

Since 1971, this humble congregation has offered its one gift, celebrating His word through the musical heart of John Coltrane. Yesterday was Saturday, September 23rd, the day the greatest modern saxophone player was born, the day of the autumn equinox, on the cusp between Virgo and Libra. It's one of the two days during the year in which night and day are in perfect balance. So today's celebration is especially intense.

Editor's Note: The Church has moved around a few times in the last couple of years and so you are advised to check www.coltranechurch.org/ before setting off. In February, 2006 it was at 1286 Fillmore Street. I found it a really welcoming and vibrant place even though I am not a believer. See the pictures on Flykr

I want to be a force for real good. I know that there are bad forces here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the force which is truly for good. - John Coltrane

It is the dedicated triumph of John Coltrane's life over many tempting obstacles, his music, and his testimony that have inspired these followers to be led down a righteous path, committed to "live cleanly and do right." Located on Divisadero Street near Haight, they continue their search for all that is good, in spite of the evils and struggles of urban life.

"Trane still sounds inside us as the freedom we seek, the total expression of our lives, as the expression of the Human-headed Soul, the teaching that the flaming paradise of his music is in us to create the world we live in." - Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

Everyone inside the church is a musician and the worship is led by King, who bangs on a bongo or blows fire into his horn. A stand up piano lines the aisle next to an aging drum kit. Tambourines and congas are played in the front rows, where the choir resides. Without a single spoken word, the service rips away into its thirty-minute procession, 'Africa'. Then without a breath, a segue to the birth and slow build up of 'Acknowledgment'. A Love Supreme is the highlight of the entire mass - a half hour of sweaty, intense spiritual expression where jazz meets Jesus and giant steps spiral upward. Almost no oral dialog takes place until after the first hour and a half. Just music. Don Cherry used to stand outside the church on Sundays, listening and gazing upward as the traffic blazed by.

"The emotional reaction is all that matters. As long as there is some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood." - John Coltrane, 1964

Cries of "Praise God!" and "Say it Bishop!" ring out. One priest solos, then another and a third. People passing by on the street peer in to see what's going on. Two hours into the liturgy, every musician is dripping with sweat, half the people are dancing or clapping. Some bow their heads, folding their hands in silent prayer. The percussion is throttling away. Anyone who can hold an instrument is in full swing. They have recognised the intimate relationship in life between music and spirituality, between the past and the future. Perhaps they are not waiting to get to heaven. Maybe they feel they have already arrived.

"Coltrane tried to explain in his music the wonderful things that the universe meant to him. Playing jazz was a spiritual experience to Coltrane, and he always felt that he would share his feelings with his listeners. There is no doubt about his strong religious motivation... Coltrane came, and he made music. He built on existing foundations. He and his music lived in inexorable relation to other lives, other ideas, other musics." - Gordon Kopulos, John Coltrane: Retrospective Perspective, 1971

John Coltrane was a mortal man, living an immortal life. Like Mozart, he was given a divine gift. Had someone told him he wasn't supposed to do all of those revolutionary things with a saxophone, he would have done them anyway. He was the fiercest player since Charlie Parker and the angels that blessed his playing also fuelled his addition. But, during the year 1957 Trane said he, "experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life." Some say in order to kick the junk, he made a pact with God. If he could overcome his raging addiction, he would devote his life and music to the Church. And so it was -- he cleaned up and poured the remaining years of his life into a personal crusade of a higher being.

It has been said quite often that before he recorded A Love Supreme, Coltrane was again spoken to by God, and it is not difficult to imagine how one might interpret that. The beauty of each composed note on that record speaks for his ability, in 1964, to give up his every energy to another spirit. Through courage comes freedom and by the mid-Sixties Coltrane must have felt he was the freest man alive, his wholeness bursting forward with such powerful deliverance.

"Trane's death made me real sad because not only was he a great and beautiful musician, he was a kind and beautiful and spiritual person that I loved. I miss him, his spirit, and his creative imagination and his searching, innovative approach. He was a genius... - Miles Davis in his autobiography, Miles

Bishop King carries on that hope, that guidance, stating that John Coltrane is their "messenger of Sound Praise for the upliftment and dedication of our lives to God" and thanks "all who have held fast to the form of the Sound Word, and those who continue to share the vision and pursuit of A Love Supreme. We are fully aware of the universality of his music and his philosophy, and that his spirit and legacy reaches and touches the lives of people of many different faiths, creeds and religions." For the church's believers and a Bishop named King, John Coltrane -- the genius -- lives on forever at 351 Divisadero Street, in San Francisco, California.

"May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain - it is all with God - in always and forever." - John Coltrane

--Photo by Damian Rafferty--

It was a surprise to see this nice documentary about the holyness of John Coltrane supported to a lot of people.
I have a picture of John Coltrane, at the piano, during an intermission of a concert in Scheveningen the Netherlands.
I was standing behind him.
When I visited a long time later, a jazz-shop, I showed the shop-keeper that picture and he changed from sales-man to a Coltrane fan. He asked me, if he me touch me, because I was standing with god on a picture. For a lot of people, John Coltrane was a spiritual musician. Thats why some people are talking about so many years before JC or after JC. I hope you dig it.

I found this on the web and my copy of the CD is elsewhere but I think it is correct.

I will do all I can to be worthy of Thee O Lord.
It all has to do with it.
Thank you God.
Peace.
There is none other.
God is. It is so beautiful. Thank you God. God is all.
Help us to resolve our fears and weaknesses.
Thank you God.
In You all things are possible.
We know. God made us so.
Keep your eye on God.
God is. he always was. he always will be.
No Matter what . . . it is God.
He is gracious and merciful.
It is most important that I know Thee.
Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, thoughts,
fears and emotions… time… all related . . .
all made from one . . . all made in one.
Blessed be His name.
Thought waves… heat waves… all vibrations…
all paths lead to God. Thank you God.
His way . . . it is so lovely . . . it is gracious.

It is merciful … Thank you God.
One thought can produce millions of vibrations
and they all go back to God . . . everything does.
Thank you God.
Have no fear . . . believe . . . Thank you God.
The universe has many wonders. God is all.
His way . . . it is so wonderful.
Thoughts… deeds… vibrations, etc.
They all go back to God and He cleanses all.
He is gracious and merciful . . . Than you God.
Glory to God . . . God is so alive.
God is.
God loves.
May I be acceptable in thy sight.
We are all one in His grace.
The fact that we do exist is acknowledgement
of Thee O Lord.
Thank you God.
God will wash away all our tears . . .
He always has . . .
He always will.
Seek Him everyday. In all ways seek God everyday.
Let us sing all songs to God
To whom all praise is due . . . praise God.
No road is an easy one, but they all
go back to God.
With all we share God.
It is all with god.
It is all with Thee.
Obey the Lord
Blessed is He.
We are all from one thing . . . the will of God . . .
Thank you God
I have seen God… I have seen ungodly…
none can be greater… none can compare to God.
Thank you God.
He will remake us . . . He always has and he
always will.
He is true… blessed be His name… Thank you God.
god breathes through us so completely . . .
so gently we hardly feel it . . . yet,
it is everything.
Thank you God.
ELATIONS… ELEGANCE… EXALTATION…
All from God.
Thank you God.Amen.

I was born in 1950. I wasn’t exposed to jazz music until 1967. My neighbor had a jazz collection. at 17 years old i was exposed to avant garde Coltrane. A Love Supreme was one of the more tame recordings. I got a taste of Ascention. Father Son and Holy Ghost. New Wave in Jazz. Expression. These recodings about took my head off. I was used to hearing Motown songsas a teenager. A Love Supreme gave me a reason to live. My greatest regret is that I was too young to catch the classic quartet live.

I just came back from another beautiful service.I & I have been a member of the church since 1994 when it was on Divisadero and now still attend services at the new location and day,and that is Sunday 12 noon at St Paulus Lutheran church located at Gough & Turk in SF I thought this would be helpful for anyone searching for the word and the healing of St John Will-I-am Coltrane…..Praise Jah ……Selah

In the most darkest days of my life, it’s the music, soul

of JC that have brought me out of it. To know that a man such as he walk and lived in my own life time fills me with wonder. If I could only become half the human being he became?

Nearly 23 years ago I was approached at San Francisco airport by a young woman passing out leaflets. One was for “The Church of John Coltraine”. I thought she was insane, heretical, and typically San Franciscan in her zanyness.

I am now a Theology student, and have been an ardent Jazz fan since I first heard Count Basie on TV when I was 6. I’m discovering John for the first time. How I wish I could hav attended a service, or had more time on my hands that day.

It is amazing what ignorance can deprive you of.

God Bless.

This is a wonderful article, but I disagree with some of it. In it on several occasions references are made to Coltrane dedicating himself to “The Church” and at one point it read that the church of John Coltrane was where “jazz meets Jesus.” This couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Coltrane was a spiritual man, but certainly not religious. He condemned religions of any kind because he felt that they only put restrictions on their followers and were used mainly for political reasons. If he was near to any religion, it was that of Hinduism. That’s all.

I first heard John Coltrane in a small jazz club about 10 miles outside of London in the sixties and he blew my mind away, he together with Miles made my formative years the best. May these two angels play heavenly music forever.

Vic Mellor, Leicester, England

I dont understand how trane played like a machine he is so brilliant i have been studying giant steps for 2 weeks i cannot get my head around it. I wish he had not died so young i would of asked his advise. I am tierd of trying to make a living out of somthing no one else wants to listen to music today is futile and has no place in my world.

I was lucky to finally make it to the church this last November - it felt like coming home! Since the first time I heard ‘Trane, (and the music was ‘Impressions’, which to me at the time was so intense I started hallucinating!), he has felt to me like a patron saint. It is rewarding to find other folks who share the same feelings and are commited to reinvestigating and celebrating his achievement and revelation through ritual. Amen. Praise Be.

I walk around here and see a land cloaked in fear. Do not hide your eyes, do not be afraid—you are worthy of love! Reach out and find the breath of life!

I am an alcoholic and drug user who quit two years ago. Since that time I have felt myself rise higher (and lower!) into the direct experience of reality than ever before. Clarity, humility, wakefullness, learning… there is no limit to this. I want to say that Coltrane touches me and challenges me to open my eyes like nothing in the musical world. He didn’t rescue me… you all did. Thank you. As JC said: “It all has to do with it!”

In Plato’s Philibus, Socrates is arguing whether life is more akin to wisdom or to pleasure, and he says that pleasure is contradictory:

“we say that the man who lives a drunken life has pleasure, and that the self-restrained man takes pleasure in his very sobriety”

Certainly Theresa’s ecstasy could be likened to being very very high on heroin, and perhaps the pleasure centers in her brain could be activated in the same way. But have you ever tasted a piece of pie that was a gift? Does it not taste better than the gifts we bake for ourselves?

All I know is that I was dead and now I live—and I did not choose to live, it is a gift. Did you choose to be born? Then there are 3 basic attitudes to take 1 gratefulness 2 ungratefulness 3 apathy. There is really no words to describe life… music paints a better picture… and so does the sound of a million crying children! What is the sound that calls us forth from nothingness to existence? I believe it is our own name, our true name—everything we touch everything we hear, however dissonant, is a gift from God—he or she is constantly calling us out of the darkness into the light.

“How do we KNOW that we have passed from death into life? Because we love the brethren. He that does not love his brother abides in death.” I John 3:14

For me the hope of life is that God’s mercy is boundless. Saint Faustina called it “the astonishment of angels, incomprehensible to saints”. Cat Stevens said “love is better than a song/love is where all of us belong.” We were made out of love and to love we shall return!

As Stan noted above the banalization of all things human has trivialized the human condition. We are worth far more than we realize.

“I know that love is the only force that will solve the worlds problems and I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go.” -MLK

God is ALIVE. -Amos (You know when you understand… Mighty God is a living man -Bob Marley).

Somehow we must all stand up and say: We are tired of killing each other! We are tired of being divided, blinded, dilluted, disillusioned, disgusted, and robbed by consumerism and commercialism of those blinded by their worldly riches. We refuse to be lied to media/war establishment! “WE ALL ARE GOD’s CHILDREN! And if we are God’s children we do not have to live like we are forced to live.” -MLK

Peace in the Middle east, peace on earth, peace to all women and men and children who live and breath together this day.

“Sooner would the seas dry up and all the great rivers run backwards that would God’s love be removed from the world.” -St. Faustina

Maria Mater Misericordia

Rising unto heaven

Her face sees Him there

Shining through her

And when she turns her eyes

Down through us

We rise to meet him here.

we all feel the burden

we all hide in shame

we all deny the question

we all focus on the pain

we all die in adoration

we all hide in fiction

we all abide in the wounds

we all find a new addiction

we all let the love shine through -dj

we are all caught

in an inescapable

network of mutuality

bound in a single

garment of destiny

and what ever effects one directly

effects us all indirectly

for I know that

just is indivisible

injustice anywhere

is a threat to justice

everywhere

-mlk

JMJ

pray for us

Saint John Coltrane was indeed a religious man. In fact, he said: “I want to live a TRULY RELIGIOUS LIFE and express it in my music. If you live it, when you play there is no problem because the music is a part of everything… My music is the spiritual expression of what I am…my faith, my knowledge, my being.” John Coltrane

John Coltrane was the MAN !!
I am learning the trumpet because of him,Miles Davis, and because I was born in
dayton,ohio.
I grew up all around the people who started such groups like.
1.Ohio Players
2.Slave
3.Lakeside
4.Heatwave
5.Sun
6.Zapp/Roger
7.Dayton
8.Faze-O
9.Platypus

Would like to form a new Jazz/FUNK group.
Looking for some serious
possible members.

My email is
peter_slaughter@yahoo.com
This is me
www.ineways.com/pds

I am a member of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, and I’m very moved by all of the wonderful testimonies on this page.

Saint John-The Divine Sound Baptist was quoted as saying that he was a christian, and most certainly never “condemed” religion, in fact Saint John said that he ” believed in all religions” and eventhough he himself was a christian, he felt that it was not about whether a man was a christian or not, but rather if a man knew the truth, and the truth, he said had no lables on it, and that each man had to find the truth for himself.

Saint John is found quoting Jesus Christ on his album A Love Supreme when he said, “Dear Listener, Let us persue Him in the rightious path, yes it is true, seek and ye shall find, only through Him can we know the most woderous bestowal”

Saint John is also heard Quoting the Vedas on the recording” OM” “Rights that the vedas ordained, and the ritual taught by the scriptures all these am I. I am the offering made to the ghost of fathers; herbs of healing and food, the mantram, the clarified butter, I the oblation and I the flame unto which it is offered. I am the sire of this world and this world’s mother and grandsire. I am he who awards to each the fruits of his actions I make all things clean, I am OM!

Saint John’s belief in all religions are further expressed on the album Cosmic Music with an illustrated representation of all major religions…Buda from India and Japan, the star of David, the crescent and star, and I belive Lord Krishna blowing on his flute. Saint John showed us that religion is something that should unite the world, not become the reason for wars.

For all who are curious the church is now located at 1286 Fillmore in San Francisco. A radio show on KPOO, UPLIFT playes four hours of John’s music on Tuesdays 12 to 4 PM The church also has a web site www.coltranechurch.org

NO 1 AKANU STREET,
ABA,
ABIA STATE, NIGERIA,
CITY,ABA,
ZIP COD,234

Dear sir.
I WANT TO JION HANDSAND PARY FOR THEY WORLD.I WANT TO JION,MY IS CHINEDU CHUKWU ,
AND I LIVE @ NO 1 AKANU STREET ABA,AM 19 YRS OLD,MALEII LIVE WITH MY LOVING FAMILY .WE ARE CHRISTIANOUR FAMILY LOVE TO PREACH THE WORLD OF GOD,MY MISSION OF WRTING THIS LITTER TO THIS MISSION OF SCHOOL, IS TO JION HANDS ANG PARY FOR THE WORLD, AND EVERYBODY
PROMISE OF FOR BLISSING IN PRAYER.
PRYER MEAN COMING TO GOD BECAUSE OF HIS PROMISE BY OUR PRAYERWE SHOW THAT WE BELIVE GOD AND TRUST HIS PROMISE .THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUE PRYER IS THATR WE EXPRESS OUR WILLINGNESS TO HV GOD,S WILL DONE .THIS IS BEST EXPRESSED IN THE WORLD .SURRENDER,WCHICHGSAYS MOST CLEARLY THAT THE ENTIRE NOW TRUSTING GOD WHEN WE CAN NOT SEE ABIDING IN HIS PROMISE SEEKING ALWAYS TO MEET HIS CONDITION IN THE PROMISE.
PROMISE THAT ASSURE ME OF eteernal life.
BECAUSE GOD DOES NOT THINK OR ACT AS WE DO, IT IS DIFFICULT FOR US TO GRASP THAT GOD FREELY FORGIVE US UOR SINS FOR JESUS SAKE .AS HUMAN BEING WE NEED TO BE REASSURED AGAIN AND AGAIN,LIKE LITTLECHILDREN WANTING TO HEAR THAT THEY ARE LOVEED.SO ,THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES,GOD SPEAK WONDERFUL PROMISE TO ETERNAL LIFE
CLOSEING PAYER.
FATHER GOD ,HELP US TO LISTEN ALWAYS FOR THE THINGS CAN LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD YOU ARE SPEAKING TO US.
HELP OUR CLASS TO TO BE AT PEACE ,AND LISTENING.
HELP OUR NATION TO BE AT PEACE ,AND LISTENING,AND MAY YOU WILL BE DONE IN JESUS NAME WE PARY AMEN,AM WATING FOR YR REPLY.THANKS.