Perhaps the greatest thirty-three minutes of music ever recorded was released 45 years ago. It mixed hard bop and the free jazz style that dominated the genre in the late 1960’s. This thanks in part to the many album releases on the pioneering jazz label Impulse!

The best known artist on the label was John Coltrane, and it was his masterpiece, “A Love Supreme” that was released in 1965. Regardless of musical taste, this arrangement was, and still is, something to marvel at. I’ve always likened it to a prayer or meditation put to music. It’s a beautiful suite that everyone should own. In November of 2003 Rolling Stone released its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. “A Love Supreme” came in at #47, one spot ahead of “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” by Public Enemy, and right behind “Legend” by Bob Marley and the Wailers. At a time when Motown, The Beatles, and flower power ruled, by 1970 “A Love Supreme” sold an incredible 500,000 copies.

I’ll leave the details to Wikipedia. If you like you can research the hows, whys, and wheres by taking a look at the facts. Yes, the album has gone down in history as an important musical composition, but it’s also been treated like a treasure. The manuscript of the album has been preserved by the National Museum of American History, and has been a driving influence in the careers of musicians ranging from Bono to Carlos Santana to almost anyone who’s performed on a stage!

Part of the lure of the album is no doubt its spiritual overtones and content. The music, and the few lyrics that aren’t really sung, but chanted as a mantra would be, has a mystical feel. It’s an ode to God, whoever that god may be. Coltrane was a very spiritual man. He studied and was interested in many religions as he sought his own musical and spiritual truth. He found spirituality as he attempted to defeat a brutal heroin and alcohol addiction. Heroin was the drug of choice at the time, along with LSD later on in the sixties. Charlie Parker made heroin chic among jazz musicians in the forties and fifties, so much so that disciples of Parker did heroin just so they could be like him, and perhaps their creative sensitivities would flow through. Of course Parker ended up dying at age 34. Coltrane wouldn’t be far behind, but for a different reason.

Coltrane experimented with LSD and the result was some incredible music, along with some very confusing music and for some, compositions that were unlistenable. “A Love Supreme” was not one of those releases. The LSD allowed Coltrane to open up his mind and go to a place that very few pursue. Don’t be fooled though. Coltrane used LSD as a conduit, not as the end-game, so to speak. He was after the musical result, not the hallucinogenic by-product. When I think of Coltrane I sometimes compare him to Jimi Hendrix, who died three years after Coltrane of a well-publicized drug overdose. Their lives weren’t similar, but the devotion to the music and to their instruments was identical. The biggest difference was Hendrix’s inability to kick his over the top drug habit.

Technically, “A Love Supreme” is a suite broken into four pieces; one more lovely than the last. It should be noted that the album was released by The John Coltrane Quartet. The musicians included Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Elvin Jones on drums, Jimmy Garrison on double bass and McCoy Tyner on piano. Not only can’t the album’s importance be understated, but the sheer genius exhibited can’t be denied.

Coltrane was an extremely prolific composer who spent countless hours practicing his craft. He was always looking to push the limits of time and space. He would arrange music to mathematical equations. He loved the avant-garde side of jazz which he fostered later on in his career. There’s little doubt that he was obsessed with his music and sought to expand the horizons of jazz beyond any of the normal limits simply because Coltrane had no limits.

In his abbreviated life Coltrane released 114 studio albums and 29 live albums. Many of these releases were with the likes of Miles Davis, with whom Coltrane got his start as part of the Miles Davis Quintet. He also played with Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, and an array of musicians when he became his own band leader.

“A Love Supreme” was performed live just once. In July of 1965 in Antibes, France, the quartet did an extreme version of the suite. It allowed each musician to play free-form and featured lengthy solos by each musician. It was adventurous to say the least and is in stark contrast to the original studio version.

Coltrane would succumb to liver cancer in July of 1967. He was only 40 years old. He’d conquered his drug and alcohol demons years before and actually died a wealthy man; something that couldn’t be said of many jazz musicians at the time. Coltrane never told anyone of his battle with cancer and after his death many were shocked. Some of his friends didn’t even realize he was sick. This behavior isn’t surprising as you learn more about the man and how he lived his life. He was a man of very few words. There aren’t too many pictures or video recordings of him.

It’s hard to fathom that in his short life he managed to play with the best musicians in the world and release so many pieces of art. At times “art” is used to describe music. I think it’s done too much. It’s safe to say that art is relative and subjective. I may not think that Britney Spears and 50 cent are artists, but that doesn’t mean I’m right; it’s simply my opinion. I would, however, challenge anyone who says that John Coltrane’s music, especially “A Love Supreme” is not art. It’s the musical equivalent of the Mona Lisa, the Creation of Adam, and The Last Supper rolled into one.