Was ich oben unterschlagen habe ist natürlich die spirituelle Komponente von Coltranes Musik, die gerade in „Psalm“ eine neue Dimension erreicht. Die Spiritualität wäre wohl ein Thema für einen eigenen Thread, nehme ich an… und bei Coltrane taucht sie ja schon viel früher auf!
Anscheinend haben übrigens von den Zeitgenossen anfangs nur wenige bemerkt, dass der auf der Hülle abgedruckte Text Coltranes Spiel auf „Psalm“ entspricht.
In „Coltrane Reference“ heisst es
„When A Love Supreme was released in early 1965, few people seemed to notice the relationship between the poem „A Love Supreme“ and the fourth movement of the suite, „Psalm.“ One exception was Doug Pringle, whose insightful review appeared in Coda („John Coltrane: A Love Supreme,“ Oct./Nov. 1965, p. 32):
Today we are used to treating sceptically works of art, particularly music, which carry with them a „message“ of apparently extra-musical significance. The austere jacket and formal text of this release are disturbing in this way, for it seems that Coltrane is using his name to foist a personal religion upon his audience. As a result, we are tempted to „let the music speak for itself,“ [was ja erklärterweise auch Coltranes Haltung war, wie man in der Jazz Casual-Sendung sehen kann – gtw] and the notes have been generally disregarded.
But Coltrane felt it necessary to go beyond the music to express himself, in fact to make the listener more aware of the breadth of his musical conception. What he is putting forward here is a musical esthetic, a statement of the „elation, elegance, exaltation“ of music, and of the beauty he senses in it which he can only call God.
This music is intellectual and rational. Its ideal is eloquence; to speak of frenzy in Coltrane’s playing is to miss the rugged structure of his musical ideas. The most intense parts of his music are the points where formal development has placed in a single phrase as much meaning as it can bear, where the cry of release is both the logical and the emotional resolution.
Coltrane is constantly occupied with formal construction, and the freedom to be gained within what appears to be rigid form. All of the compositions and many solo phrases come from the four-note thematic phrase, which embodies the chant-like theme „A Love Supreme.“ The solo framework of the first section, Acknowledgement, is roughly a four-bar phrase, but from this base, Coltrane fashions less obvious forms, and at times recognizable blues-structure. In Resolution as well, an eight-bar pattern, he twists his phrases to suggest a blues form. Pursuance (the title calls to mind Chasin‘ the Trane) is a standard Coltrane blues; in it one sees how freely he can use chords, for his points of reference are few but precisely placed.
Psalm is what Coltrane calls „a musical narration of the theme“; he sets to music the text in the liner, phrase-by-phrase, in the manner of liturgical plainsong. The true power of his performance can only be felt by following the text with the music. The vocal quality of Coltrane’s playing is moving, and in this context he can best communicate his feelings about the spiritual realities he has found in his musical life.
The changes in Coltrane’s style evident on this recording must be noted. Much has ben made of his newly increased concentration of expression and clearer direction; but what strikes me equally is the quality of his tone and phrasing. The broad, flat tone evident on Chasin‘ the Trane has been tempered by a nervously excited, more vocal sound and a steady, intense vibrato which was much more noticeable in a recent live performance than here. The swagger and brash assertiveness of Impressions and all of his playing to date seems to me to have been replaced by a slightly hesitant, more contemplative approach, with less regard for polish.
The recorded history of Coltrane’s playing is as good a portrait of an artists as one could wish; one can see in his present style the same personal, original qualities which first attracted recognition. The statement made on this record seems to be the most significant step to date in his artistic development. – D.P. [Doug Pringle]
~ Coltrane Reference, 319f.
Das ist in der Tat eine tolle Beschreibung von Coltranes Wandel, den man wohl irgendwo zwischen Ende 1963 (Europa-Tour) und Mitte 1964 am ehesten greifen kann. Ich denke man kann diesen Wandel eben auch am Ton hören. Die Härte und Klarheit, die sein Ton vor den Zahn- und/oder Mundstückproblemen hatte, die hat Coltrane wohl nie mehr erreicht, und wie mich dünkt, gar nicht mehr erreichen wollen. Stattdessen ist sein Ton in den Konturen weicher und im Körper voller geworden. Das Vibrato, das früher nur bei Balladen auftauchte, wird in seiner ganzen Musik hörbar (was die beiden 1964er Studio-Alben zeigen), die Musik wird insgesamt umfassender, es gibt nicht mehr diese klaren Trennung von „Balladen“, „Blues“ und „cookers“ oder Uptempo-Nummern oder wie man das auch immer nennen will… das alles packt Coltrane in dieser Phase oft in ein einziges Stück – Rubato mit hymnischer Lyrik, mitreissender Swing, suchende, ekstatische Soli. Genau das ist es wohl, was die Musik so unglaublich gut macht!
Und 1965 geht das dann alles noch ein wenig weiter, intensiviert sich noch mehr (wobei das hymnische auf den Live-Aufnahmen vom Frühling eher etwas untergeht, dafür auf denn Studio-Sessions eher überwiegt). Der nächste „Bruch“ fand dann schrittweise statt… Ascension im Sommer 1965, gegen Ende des Jahres dann Meditation, wo in Sachen lyrischer Hymnen wieder neue Gipfel der Intensität erklommen werden.
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #158 – Piano Jazz 2024 - 19.12.2024 – 20:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba