[Dixielandjazz] John Coltrane, Giant Steps, & AJB

[Marek Boym]

I'd warn anybody before they really click on Love Supreme!  I still
consider it a misfortune to have come within earshot of THAT!
And I don't care if some people admire Coltrane.
And another thing: I come from a Communist country, and know what
brainwashing is!  As regards Coltrane, I rather believe in what
President Lincoln had to say on the subject.
Cheers

On 21/05/07, Steve Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Marek Boym at marekboym at gmail.com wrote:
>
> > OK, sheik, but be warned - the original is Coltrane!  To my ears - it
> > does not sound like music.
> >
> > Cheers
>
> Hello Marek:
>
> To others ears, it is a religious experience :-) VBG. See below news clip
> from 2000 when the church of St. John Coltrane was forced to move because of
> rising rents. It operates today on Fillmore street in San Francisco. See
> their web site if interested. After all, it's not every day that a jazz
> musician, and/or jazz music becomes the basis for a church. 37 years and
> counting.  http://www.coltranechurch.org/
>
> Like a gal, who was listening to our trio music, Friday night said, when I
> remarked that we saw her listening intently: "I always listen fully to live
> music. My father said, when I was a little girl, that when a musician plays
> jazz in front of an audience, he is giving you a little piece of his soul."
>
> 47 years old, 7 kids and already a Grandmother. A very hip chick, as we used
> to say in the 1950s.
>
> Cheers
> Steve Barbone
>
> Requiem for a Church Supreme - After three decades of feeding the homeless,
> the  the Church of Saint John Coltrane now finds itself without a home
>
> San Francisco Weekly - By Jack Boulware- Published: January 26, 2000
>
> Sixty people -- primarily white twenty-somethings with goatees and
> dreadlocks -- crowd into a small Western Addition storefront. Musicians
> carrying saxophone cases and drumsticks slip through the crowd up to the
> front. It's immediately apparent that this is not your ordinary Sunday
> church service. The walls feature a series of 10-foot-high murals depicting
> saxophonist John Coltrane, and lyrics from his album A Love Supreme. The
> altar displays a portrait of a black Jesus Christ.
>
> A beatific African-American woman greets the room.
>
> "Anyone here love John Coltrane?" she asks. People answer yes. Some raise
> their hands. Sister Deborah introduces herself, welcomes everyone, and
> explains that it is acceptable to do whatever the spirit moves you to do
> during the service. If you want to sit, fine. If you feel like standing and
> dancing, that's cool. If you want to sing along, or grab a tambourine, even
> better.
>
> "This is God's house," she explains. "We're God's children. So we wanna have
> a good time!"
>
> She smiles wide, and asks how many in the room are locals. Three hands rise.
> The vast majority of this morning's congregation is from somewhere outside
> the city -- Texas, Arizona, Spain, New Zealand, France, Denmark, Sweden, and
> Ireland all are represented today.
>
> Bishop Franzo King enters from behind a curtain, wearing bright purple
> vestments and sporting a saxophone around his neck.  The bishop might not
> say anything at all. He might stick his sax in his mouth, and the band might
> kick into a Coltrane composition that goes on for 30 minutes, with the choir
> singing along, and every musician getting time to play solo. The entire
> crowd might be on its feet dancing, clapping along, rapping knuckles against
> the walls. The pianist might move to a Hammond B-3 organ in the back of the
> room, and rip into a groove so furious that Bishop King will run over to him
> with a wireless microphone, stick the device directly into the organ's
> speaker, and send out an ear-splitting cacophony of jazz that echoes off the
> walls and ceilings. And at that point, the bishop might scream, "YEAH!"
>
> Since 1971, the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church has
> operated out of this Divisadero Street location, holding weekly services,
> feeding, clothing, and counseling the homeless, and teaching music and
> computer classes. After nearly three decades, a word-of-mouth reputation has
> earned the church mentions in travel guidebooks, jazz Web sites, and
> Coltrane biographies. Each Sunday, the room is filled to capacity.
>
> (snipped for brevity)
>
>
>
> on 5/20/07 6:25 PM, Marek Boym at marekboym at gmail.com wrote:
>
> > OK, sheik, but be warned - the original is Coltrane!  To my ears - it
> > does not sound like music.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > On 20/05/07, Steve Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >> Sheik (dwlit at cpcug.org) wrote:
> >>
> >>> A couple of folks have send me AJB's "Giant steps". Sounds like it might
> >>> be a worthy tune, but as far as I know I've never heard the original.
> >>> Gotta listen a few more times...
> >>
> >> Hey Sheik. To hear the original Giant Steps go to:
> >>
> >> http://www.johncoltrane.com/swf/main.htm
> >>
> >> Click on "A love Supreme" on the upper left and a list of songs Trane made
> >> famous among his fans songs will appear. The 2nd song is Giant Steps. Click
> >> it, listen and you'll know why few Dixieland Bands attempt it.
> >>
> >> On the other hand, General Audiences will relate to almost any song, be it
> >> The Saints", or "St Thomas", or "Sister Sadie" as long as they are played by
> >> a competent band with fire and energy and the players relate to the
> >> audience. All the song needs is a semblance of a melody, and a swinging band
> >> to get them going.
> >>
> >> St Thomas is one of our most appreciated numbers by general audiences. It is
> >> the happiest of music and gets people swaying right away.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Steve Barbone
> >>
> >>
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