SPIRITUAL JAZZ
Alice Coltrane & Beyond
Coltrane’s widow, Alice, took on the
spiritual quest of her husband as well as the musical interest
in Indian and African elements. Her first recordings following
John’s death, Journey in Satchidananda and
Ptah the El Dauod contain elements of free jazz,
Indian music, modal jazz, and make use of unusual elements
such as the sitar and tabla, a variety of percussive elements,
and the harp, an instrument rarely heard in jazz. The latter
album, featuring Alice, Sanders, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter,
and Ben Riley, is an overlooked jazz classic of the period,
easily as interesting and potentially influential as a number
of John’s recordings. Alice became so interested in
the spiritual aspect of her life that she left the music
business to found her own ashram. For many years the only
music she created was specifically in the service of her
spiritual practice, music designed to serve a function.
Only this past year, in 2004, did she re-emerge with the
recording Translinear Light. Her music still displays
the elements of spiritual searching and the influence of
her late husband, but like Sanders, the music is cooler
and a bit more peaceful than that of her earlier career.
Of course there have been no end of spiritual
practices embraced by jazz musicians over the years, which
makes perfect sense considering the breadth of background
of those drawn to the music. Buddhists have included Harold
Land, Charles Lloyd, and Herbie Hancock. Dizzy Gillespie
came to embrace the B’hai faith. Muslims include Art
Blakey, Billy Higgins, and Ahmad Jamal. Scientology is practiced
by Chick Corea and Isaac Hayes. There are a large number
of Christian musicians of various denominations. Interestingly,
a large number of jazz musicians have also been Freemasons.
While Freemasonry is not a religion nor a religious organization,
it is a social, philosophical, educational, and charitable
organization, and this represents a pretty good cross-section
of what spiritual practice is about. Jazz musicians who
were Masons include Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Eubie
Blake, Nat “King” Cole, Duke Ellington, William
C. Handy, and Lionel Hampton.
But there has been a sense that the deeply
spiritual music created by jazz musicians of the 1960s and
earlier 1970s has disappeared to some extent. While some
fusion musicians were certainly seeking to incorporate spiritual
elements into their music—John McLaughlin, Chick Corea,
and Herbie Hancock come immediately to mind—there
is a feeling that the music became mired in deliberate shows
of technical proficiency and commercialism. The traditionalist
movement that followed in the 80s might have seemed like
a chance to re-examine some of these ideas, but the musicians
who came of age during this time often seemed more interested
in resurrecting the form of past jazz music rather than
the content. But there is a sense that perhaps some current
musicians are again consciously exploring spiritual avenues
in their music. John and Alice Coltrane’s son, Ravi,
creates music with a personal depth that recalls his father’s
search. Musicians like Jason Moran and Don Byron have explored
the roots of jazz in gospel, blues, and the church again.
Byron has also explored Jewish klezmer music, reiterating
the tie between Judaism and African-Americans, a tie that
musicians Warren Byrd and David Chevan explore with their
group, Afro-Semitic Experience. A Love Supreme
has been re-examined by Ravi Coltrane, orchestrated by Wynton
Marsalis, and performed anew by Branford Marsalis with his
quartet.
No matter where jazz music travels in the
future, it seems unlikely that there will ever be a time
when there will not be musicians who seek to express their
spiritual journey in musical terms. This is especially true
when one considers the incorporation of elements from indigenous
music found all over the world and the incorporation of
jazz into those indigenous musics.
