Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church
The Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church , or Coltrane Church for short , is a parish founded in 1971 that worships the jazz musician John Coltrane , who died in 1967 . Their community center on Fillmore Street in San Francisco's Western Addition Quarter is the Sunday meeting place for the community and, thanks to the special musical form of the church services, also a venue for the city's jazz .
The evolution of Coltrane Church
The Coltrane Church , full name Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church is part of the African Orthodox Church , which in 1919 in the United States by a priest of the Episcopal Church was founded. It was founded in the early 1970s by Franzo Wayne King, a preacher's son from Los Angeles . Its name is derived from the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, who plays a central role in the church with his music.
King first encountered John Coltrane's music in the early 1960s. The deep impression of a Coltrane concert in San Francisco then had a decisive influence on his further development. King said in an interview that in 1966 he sat in the front row with his girlfriend and later wife Marina in the Jazz Workshop and saw Coltrane live for the first time. “What they heard there, they literally blew off the chair. King later called this experience his 'baptism of sound'. "
In the late 1960s he created a small congregation called Yardbird Temple in tribute to Charlie Parker . His parishioners, however, rather worshiped John Coltrane, whom they saw not only as a saint, but rather as a kind of "incarnation of God". Coltrane's music (especially his album A Love Supreme ) made a strong spiritual impression on many contemporaries in the second half of the 1960s, which Coltrane also deliberately intended. His influence - he died in 1967 - temporarily dominated the jazz scene at the time. In 1971 the One Mind Evolutionary Transitional Church of Christ came into being .
Coltrane's widow Alice Coltrane also worked with King and his community in the early 1970s. After Alice Coltrane founded her own Vedantic Center in West Los Angeles in 1975 , she fell out with the community. Ms. Coltrane sued in 1981 for the Church of John Coltrane to be closed and for $ 7.5 million in damages for believing that her late husband's name and memory were misused. You didn't win the trial.
With the veneration of Coltrane as the incarnation of God , King's community went beyond the reach of consensus in the traditions of Christianity. It wasn't until the early 1980s that King approached this again when he met George Duncan Hinkson, an archbishop of the African Orthodox Church (AOC). He made some of the changes necessary to allow the Church to join the AOC. From then on, John Coltrane, whom they venerated, was no longer considered the "incarnation of God", but continued to be the saint and patron of the Church. King's community joined the AOC in January 1982 and has since been officially called St. John's African Orthodox Church. In May 1984, King was appointed bishop of the AOC.
The African Orthodox Church was founded in 1921 by George Alexander McGuire on the basis of biblical prophecies relating to Ethiopia and Egypt. The epithet orthodox was deliberately chosen to distinguish it from the Catholic and Protestant churches, also in the (futile) hope of recognition by the Greek Orthodox Church . The intention was to create a new spiritual home for the African Americans. The African Orthodox Church then spread very quickly to Africa, where it was particularly popular in Kenya and Uganda as a symbol of anti-colonialism . Later, however, the African offshoots broke with the headquarters of the Church in New York and, as a purely Orthodox Church, became part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria .
In 2001 Coltrane Church ran into considerable financial difficulties. Earlier this year, one of its founding members, the New College of California , had gone bankrupt. The church lost one of its most important donors and patrons, from whom two thirds of the rental income had so far been paid. Attempts were made to compensate for this with additional donations and applications for municipal subsidies.
With the increased involvement of his daughter, the bassist Wanika King-Stephens, who Franzo Wayne King had ordained a priestess in the mid-2000s, attempts were made to attract more attention, especially among women and a younger audience. In order to get even more people excited about Coltrane's music, the establishment of an annual Coltrane Music Festival is planned to celebrate his spirituality and music.
The ward also publishes scripts containing quotes from John Coltrane.
In 2016, the Coltrane Church activists petitioned the management of the West Bay Conference Center to double the rent subsidy and thus secure the location of the community in the Fillmore district.
Sunday services at Coltrane Church
King's wife, Reverend Mother Marina King and the Sisters of Compassion Choir begin with the opening prayer: “ Cleanse us, oh Lord, and keep us undefiled that we may be numbered among those blessed ones. Followers and guests alike sing along or clap their hands.
Mumia Abu-Jamal wrote about the special atmosphere of these events: “Pilgrims come from all over the world as if on a pilgrimage and visit this church. Archbishop Franzo Wayne King resides here, and he has declared Coltrane a saint of the African Orthodox church ceremony. "King's appreciation for Coltrane is not only shown in his eloquent sermons, but also when he sets the nave vibrating with his own saxophone and pays homage to the blessed jazz musician. "
“The walls of the room are adorned with icons in the Byzantine style,” wrote Aaron McDonnell Gallego about his impressions, “Jesus as Alpha and Omega, Mary , the Mother of God, the tree of life and finally, above the altar, the icon, which represents the uniqueness testified to the community - a sublime image of the patron of the church. "
The worship of Coltrane and especially his spiritually influenced music after 1959 is performed by the parishioners in public, sometimes three-hour services, in the liturgical process of which sermons, verbal contributions and chants based on Coltrane's hymn music alternate, which alternate in a jam session- like performance of Coltrane's compositions are embedded. The spiritually influenced compositions of Coltrane, especially from his late work, such as "Psalm" from A Love Supreme (1965) and the music that was composed up to his death in 1967, are interpreted in different variations and instrumentations - with the participation of the visitors. like ascension , om and meditations .
Franzo Wayne King described the message of his community: “ We are fully aware of the universality of John Coltrane's music and his philosophy, and that his spirit and legacy does reach and touch the lives of people of many different faiths, creeds, and religions. We, however, in this time and place, are grateful for the opportunity to lift up the Name of Jesus Christ through Saint John Coltrane's music, knowing from personal experience and testimony, and from a great cloud of witnesses, that the Spirit of the Lord is in this sound Praise as it is delivered from heaven through John. ”
The New York Times reported on the ceremony in 2007: “Next to the altar are an electric piano, two double basses, a drum kit and three microphones. The anthemic celebration opens with Blues For Bechet ; On the side are icons depicting Coltrane as patron or saint, with a halo [...] and a tenor saxophone from which flames beat. It is a house of jazz in the same way as a house of God; […] Then the clergy, deacons and other followers appear; led by a tenor saxophonist; it is the Archbishop Franzo Wayne King. In the next three hours there is a mix of a jam session and half a revival meeting; A traditional Christian liturgy is celebrated embedded in vocal performances of Coltrane's compositions. [...] In this way the Coltrane Church wants to spread the divine message in accordance with Coltrane's own divine experience and message. "
In the quarter century of St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane Church's existence, Franzo Wayne King's wife and several of their children also acted as "priests of sound" and also played at various European jazz festivals. Among the guests of the church were a. also the guitarist Carlos Santana .
The Coltrane Church in the context of jazz and new religious African-American musician
The theologian Tobias Böcker wrote about the connection between jazz and Christian theology : “Quite a few jazz musicians point out that they understand their creativity as part of a larger whole, from which they receive inspiration, as a mystically experienced share in the creative power of God, whom they thank and which they are preparing to praise themselves all the more. Such spirituality is not always realized in the form of a conscious Christian confession - some black jazz musicians, especially in the 1960s, identified Christianity on the contrary with the power of the oppressors , some are close to esoteric ideas - but almost always in a deep humility that surrounds knows the inadequacy of one's own creativity. "
About the connection between jazz, new religiosity and spirituality in the 1970s, Joachim-Ernst Berendt wrote that jazz music "had its roots in the spiritual - and gospel song, in sacred black music", although Christian religiosity in all of the sacred music Currents that influenced jazz musicians "play a relatively minor role." Berendt saw in the "New Religiosity" of the 1970s rather a turn towards "what religiosity really means: happiness, unification, self-realization, creative liberation."
While there was a first African-American movement as early as the 1940s - parallel to the musical and social development of bebop - which strived away from Christianity to Islam , Berendt clearly recognized the legacy of Christianity in the "main work of the whole movement", in John Coltrane's A Love Supreme , which "was inspired by the cosmic all-is-one religiosity of Buddhism and Hinduism ", "but the personal God of Christianity shines through unmistakably in numerous passages of the text."
Reimar Lenz saw the year 1967, Coltrane's death year, as “the enthusiastic awakening of the religious subculture.” With this, the new religiosity left the musical movement in which it was previously embedded; During these years of religious awakening, music was made "among free groups of people between San Francisco to Amsterdam, Berlin and Munich."
Berendt saw the message of this movement in the titles of the musicians of the time - such as Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity and Holy Ghost , Don Cherry's Complete Communion , Yusef Lateef's Try Love or Ornette Coleman's Peace , but above all in John Coltrane's "Ascension album" Ascension - the message of this movement: "Spiritual Unity through complete spiritual becoming one with the whole world, love and peace for all, redemption in pan-religious ecstasy through cosmic ascension. "
Within jazz - and initially also outside of music - the New Religiosity was primarily a concern of American musicians. Berendt refers to the long tradition of the Great Awakening , the Great Awakening movement , an ecstatic movement, in "a rhythmically intense, supercharged music as it is largely alien to the European Christianity, a special role played." The Coltrane Church is therefore in the Tradition of a spontaneously improvising, ecstatic Christian singing movement, which sing swinging hymns and songs.
“Faith comes from hearing,” wrote Tobias Böcker, “from the very beginning, oral tradition has played an essential role in the proclamation of Revelation and in the communication of the Christian faith. [...] Revelation is conveyed in the direct, living encounter of people with the word of God and his powerful deeds. Jesus' message of the rule of God is not revealed in theoretical-theological treatises, but in realistic parables and lively encounters. "
The Coltrane Church in discussion
Dr. Nicholas Baham, ethnology professor and member of the community, explained in an interview on the occasion of the celebrations for Coltrane's 81st birthday the importance of the musician; it is not that "we worship Coltrane, but he helps us see things clearly". He emphasizes the importance of the "message that Trane has conquered his drug addiction" and that "God's influence made this possible". Dr. Baham's call to the community to " add A Love Supreme to the Bible" was met with loud applause at the meeting. The starting point of admiration for Dr. Baham wrote Coltrane's short texts in A Love Supreme ; In these notes Coltrane laid out his spiritual rebirth, which had enabled him to conquer his addiction to heroin and "thus obtain the opportunities and the privilege to make others happy with music."
In his essay A Sax Divine, Aaron McCarroll Gallegos addresses the coverage in the American press, which often wrote misunderstandings about the veneration of Coltrane; in fact, the theology of the church is quite traditional. However, what distinguishes Coltrane Church from other churches - and somehow creates controversy - is the use of the music and words of a jazz musician to express deep devotion to God. In McCarroll Gallego's view, their unique form of worship indicates important aspects of a change that has gripped modern American religion, particularly mainstream Christianity at the beginning of the 21st century.
What irritates many conventional churchgoers at Coltrane Church is not just the unusual music or the length of the services, but the fundamentally different attitude towards the “consumption” of religion; thus the mainstream churches would have adapted to one of the predominant paradigms of Western society: consumerism instead of personal renunciation, entertainment instead of prophecy, individuality instead of community.
McConnell Gallegos suggests that the centers of Christianity are shifting from Europe and North America to Africa, Asia and Latin America, making other cultural expressions of worship more influential; the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church is an indicator of this trend. Still, this process of cultural reshaping of what expresses spirituality has continued since people came together for religious gatherings. Some still find it difficult to associate "ugly music" with worship. Ultimately, it was up there with the question, says McConnell Gallegos whether art should challenge us, to inspire us, or whether only the art that we as beautiful and attractive feel, move our hearts and souls could close bring the Divine.
Church social activities and environment
In addition to their every Sunday service, which also serves as a meeting point for the community , the Coltrane Church runs various social projects, including a. a vegetarian soup kitchen, a meeting room, a clothing and grocery store and a shop with Coltrane devotional items such as T-shirts, CDs and DVDs, such as the DVD The Legacy of John Coltrane produced by King . King's daughter Wanika King-Stephens has a weekly radio show with Coltrane music, Uplift , on the local station KPOO-FM.
The parish premises are located in a converted shop in the heart of the Western Addition quarter, in the vicinity of former jazz venues on the west coast . However, most of these structures fell victim to urban renewal in the 1960s. This also applies to the old building at 351 Divisadero Street, which Coltrane Church used until 2000. However, the city created the so-called Jazz preservation district on Fillmore Street to honor the history of the neighborhood to which Coltrane Church belongs. It's located at 1286 Fillmore Street at the corner of Eddy Street.
The neighborhood was also the place where new spiritual movements like Zen Buddhism influenced culture in the late 1960s ; artists like Isaac Stern , The Grateful Dead , Janis Joplin , Mel Blanc and Allen Ginsberg lived here . The Fillmore District Church is also home to the Fillmore Street Festival , which has been held annually since 1985 and returned to the revived Jazz Preservation District in 1989 . There occurred u. a. Lonnie Liston Smith , Pete Escovedo and Jules Broussard. There are now over 200 different companies and shops, music clubs, such as the Yoshi’s jazz club further north on Fillmore Street , and restaurants.
documentation
In 2004 Lol Lovett made a documentary about Coltrane Church on behalf of the BBC .
Remarks
- ↑ The community sometimes called itself St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church ; the name part Will-I-Am is derived from John Coltrane's middle name William ; the pronunciation Will-I-Am refers to the biblical passage from the Burning Bush .
- ↑ Cf. Lewis Porter, p. 296 f .: Porter sees the church as the "logical extreme" of ideas that John Coltrane was a "man [was] through whom God spoke" and sent "messages" ( McCoy Tyner ) or "I think he was an angel," says Elvin Jones .
- ↑ It says: “You have to keep on examining everything that's around you - in music and in life,” is a Coltrane quote that the congregation published in a small font. Another quote from it reads: “I don't know what I'm looking for, something that hasn't been played before. I don't know what is it. I know I'll have that feeling when I get it. "
- ↑ Translated for example: “We are fully aware of the universality of Coltrane's music and philosophy, and that his spirit and legacy reach and touch the lives of people of many different faiths, creeds and beliefs. We, however, at this time and place, are grateful for the opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus Christ through the music of John Coltrane's music, as we know from personal experience and reports, and from a great cloud of witnesses, that the spirit of the Lord lies in this praise of sound, as it is brought from heaven through John. "
- ↑ The title comes from Coltrane's Atlantic album Coltrane Plays the Blues from 1960.
- ↑ Here Berendt was referring to Pharoah Sanders ' work The Creator Has a Master Plan from his 1969 album Karma , without naming it explicitly .
literature
- Joachim-Ernst Berendt : Jazz and the new religiosity . In: A Window from Jazz . Fischer TB Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1979.
- Lewis Porter: John Coltrane . University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 2006
Web links
- Coltrane Church website
- Coltrane, Alice (MacLeod; aka Sagitananda Turiya) . In: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians . 2001; Notes on Alice Coltrane's relationship with Coltrane Church around 1982
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Mumia Abu Jamal: Cyclone of Sound . In: Junge Welt , 19./20. January 2008
- ^ Kurt Gottschalk: In the Spirit: Alice Coltrane . ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: All about Jazz ; Notes on Alice Coltrane and Coltrane Church in the 1970s.
- ↑ Coltrane, Alice (MacLeod; aka Sagitananda Turiya) . In: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians . 2001 (Notes on the Alice Coltrane vs. Coltrane-Church litigation). Robert Bruce Trane's Widow Sues Church on litigation . In: Downbeat , April 1982, p. 12, Anonymous Coltrane's Widow Sues . In: New York Times , Oct. 24, 1981, p. 26.
- ^ Kurt Gottschalk: In the Spirit: Alice Coltrane . ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: All about Jazz
- ^ Sunday Religion, Inspired by Saturday Nights . In: New York Times
- ↑ Parik Kment: Afíríkà Yeye mi! My mother Africa .
- ↑ a b Jason Drearn: Report. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: San Francisco Chronicle , 2008
- ^ Every liturgy in San Francisco's Saint Coltrane Church is a baptism in sound . In: Vibe
- ↑ Petition to West Bay Conference Center (2016)
- ^ A b Aaron McCarroll Gallegos: From the Other Side - A Sax Divine . (1999)
- ^ A b The Church of Coltrane - New York Times Slide Show 2007
- ↑ Coltrane Church website
- ^ A b Tobias Böcker: (Anti-) theses on jazz and theology . in: Magazine for Theology and Aesthetics
- ↑ Ross Perlin: Discussion of the celebrations at Coltrane Church. ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Jazzwest.com
- ↑ Information on the relocation of Coltrane Church 2000 at ColtraneNews 2000 ( Memento of the original from July 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on the Fillmore Jazz Festival and the Fillmore District
- ↑ Information on the BBC documentary film from 2004 at diverse.tv
- Joachim-Ernst Berendt: Jazz and the new religiosity . In: A Window from Jazz . Fischer TB Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1979.
- Lewis Porter: John Coltrane . University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 2006
- ↑ p. 297
Coordinates: 37 ° 46 '52.5 " N , 122 ° 25' 55.2" W.