A Love Supreme is rightly considered the ultimate achievement of
John Coltrane's late work. It has been performed whole or in part by countless players, though usually just its first movement. Drummer
John Hanrahan and guitarist
Henry Kaiser have long histories with this music.
Kaiser's dates to 1965 when he heard
A Love Supreme as a 16-year-old college freshman.
Hanrahan's dates to a lengthy 2003 interview with
Coltrane drummer
Elvin Jones and Ashley Khan's book-length treatise on the original sessions. Though he's performed it across the country with an acoustic quartet,
Hanrahan approached
Kaiser in 2017 about an electric version. The guitarist introduced him to
Meditations as
Coltrane's intended sequel, and they assembled various bands to perform both suites live over several years. The other players -- saxophonist
Vinny Golia, organist
Wayne Peet, and bassist
Mike Watt -- brought their own experiences as they worked live in studio, recording both suites in one day in February 2019.
While this record is wildly exploratory, the source material is never eclipsed by excess or ego. This quintet approaches the work kaleidoscopically, investigating from a variety of musical angles.
Kaiser's approach is informed by his studies of Indian raga, and a decades-long decoding of
Miles Davis' electric music on five Yo Miles! albums with
Wadada Leo Smith.
Hanrahan's and
Peet's inspirations are spiritual and psychological; each performance adds depth and dimension to their inner lives and musical vocations.
Golia's incantatory tenor introduces "Acknowledgement" as the band opens a frame around him. Later,
Golia's solos are free, though retain the modal melody as a central tenet.
Kaiser,
Peet, and
Watt embellish, fill, and accent before engaging in lengthy solos atop a dynamic group dialogue driven by
Hanrahan.
Watt introduces "Resolution" solo, before
Kaiser's distorted squall opens a door for
Peet, who, with
Hanrahan and
Golia, swings like mad through vanguard post-bop.
Peet's swirling organ acts as an engine for the collective modal improvisation in "Pursuance."
Meditations' "The Father and The Son and The Holy Ghost" theme presents
Golia's testament of it at once as a grounding centerpiece and the lift-off point for focused group improv. "Consequences" offers abstract interplay as the hub for cohesive group conversation and aural mapmaking.
A Love Supreme's "Acknowledgement" is reprised as a set closer with the entire band playing the vamp. It simmers and flows as
Golia articulates its melody on tenor, then switches to soprano in his solo as
Peet adorns and underscores his lines with shimmering chords.
Hanrahan guides the flow largely by feel; his empathy and receptivity inspire
Kaiser to usher in a gripping intensity that shape-shifts interactions dynamically and texturally over nearly 13 sublime minutes.
A Love Supreme Electric is not an endgame for these players. It is the next evolutionary chapter in a developing investigation that expands on the already important musical primacy, spiritual depth, and cultural resonance in these works. ~ Thom Jurek