John Coltrane: The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost

  John Coltrane, photo by Herb Snitzer

Coltrane was definitely listening to Albert Ayler the evidence is not only in the title but in the folk-like theme that opens and closes The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, which was recorded the year after Ayler made his big splash. No matter who did what first, this is a glorious, original piece of art. Coltrane added a second tenor and a second drummer to his quartet for this overtly religious work. Meditations is hardly descriptive of this outing Bombasts would be more like it. Yet, like A Love Supreme and Ascension before it, this is not caterwauling for caterwaulings sake. A search and a conversation unfold before us, and it is perhaps no stretch to suggest that the tune is a metaphor for the manner in which Coltrane thinks we ought to live with reverence for a higher power that can guide us and help us find our path through the chaos of the everyday.