A Love Supreme
A through-composed suite in four parts.
A Love Supreme is a studio album by American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, cut in a single session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The quartet for the recording consisted of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones. Impulse! Records put it out in January 1965. Often called Coltrane’s definitive tone poem, it became one of his best-selling records and is regarded as a landmark in jazz and in recorded music overall. It earned a 1966 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Small Group or Soloist with Small Group.
The album is a through-composed suite with four parts: “Acknowledgement” (which features the spoken chant that gives the album its name), “Resolution,” “Pursuance,” and “Psalm.” Coltrane plays tenor saxophone throughout. One critic described the work as representing a struggle for purity, an expression of gratitude, and a recognition that the musician’s talent comes from a higher power. Its improvisational and spiritual intensity has led some to compare it to glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, conveying ecstatic devotion. This sacred quality made it the central text of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco. Coltrane’s home in Dix Hills, Long Island, may have inspired the album, and Ahmadiyya Islam may have also been an influence.
According to John Lewis of Time Out, the album “pulls off the rare trick of being utterly uncompromising yet completely accessible.” It opens with a gong (tam-tam) and cymbal washes on “Acknowledgement.” Jimmy Garrison enters on double bass with a four-note motif that underpins the movement. Coltrane solos, playing variations on the motif until the bass repeats the four notes thirty-six times. The motif then becomes the vocal chant “a love supreme,” sung by Coltrane through overdubs nineteen times. Rolling Stone called this four-note theme “the humble foundation of the suite.”
In the final movement, “Psalm,” Coltrane performs what he called a “musical narration.” Lewis Porter described it as a “wordless recitation.” The devotional poem appears in the liner notes; Coltrane “plays” the words on saxophone without speaking them. Some scholars suggest this performance honors the sermons of African-American preachers. The poem—and Coltrane’s solo—ends with the cry: “Elation. Elegance. Exaltation. All from
- artist
- John Coltrane
- release_year
- 1965
- recorded
- December 9, 1964
- label
- Impulse! Records
- genre
- modal jazz, avant-garde jazz, free jazz, hard bop, post-bop
- length
- 33 minutes (original LP)
- producer
- not specified
Lore & Background
A Love Supreme is a through-composed suite in four parts: 'Acknowledgement', 'Resolution', 'Pursuance', and 'Psalm'. Coltrane plays tenor saxophone on all parts. The album begins with the bang of a gong and cymbal washes on the first track. Jimmy Garrison enters on double bass with a four-note motif that lays the foundation of the movement. Coltrane plays variations on the motif until the bass repeats the four notes thirty-six times, then the motif becomes the vocal chant 'a love supreme', sung by Coltrane through overdubs nineteen times. In the final movement, 'Psalm', Coltrane performs what he calls a 'musical narration', playing the words of a devotional poem on saxophone without speaking them. The poem ends with the cry, 'Elation. Elegance. Exaltation. All from God. Thank you God. Amen.'
Reader's Guide
A Love Supreme ranks among Coltrane's best-selling albums and is widely considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of jazz. It was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. By 1970, it had sold about 500,000 copies, far exceeding Coltrane's usual sales of 30,000. The album has appeared on professional listings of the greatest albums, including Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2015, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its cultural, historic, or artistic significance. The manuscript for the album was included in the National Museum of American History's 'Treasures of American History' collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Critics have described it as 'the masterpiece from the quartet's studio work' and 'the first comprehensive statement of Coltrane's spiritual concerns.'
Did You Know?
- Two alternative versions of 'Acknowledgement' were recorded on December 10, 1964, with tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp and a second bassist, Art Davis.
- The album's improvisational and spiritual intensity has led some to liken it to glossolalia, or speaking in tongues.
- A Love Supreme has become the 'central text' of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church in San Francisco.
- The album was reissued as a remastered deluxe edition on October 29, 2002, with a live performance from the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes and alternate takes.
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