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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. I confess to being something of a jazz fan. I have two saxophones at home and have been known to play them on occasions in Church. One of my favourite musicians is the great American saxophonist John Coltrane and it was on this day some 60 years ago, that he recorded his best-known and most influential album, ‘A love supreme’. It’s a striking piece, a Jazz suite in 4 parts which is explicitly spiritual in concept, evidenced in the titles of each section, Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, Psalm. In the sleeve notes, Coltrane, acknowledges the spiritual origins of his piece.

He recalls how in the year 1957, ‘I experienced by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life’ and gave him the grace to make people happy though his music. It’s that grace and praise which he offers, together with his fellow musicians, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, in ‘A love supreme’, recorded in just one afternoon in December 1964. Coltrane would go on to record other explicitly spiritual albums in the short time before his early death in July 1967, but it is ‘A love supreme’ which really made a connection with the wider world, and for which he is best remembered. He was not the kind of musician to make a Christmas record, but ‘A love supreme’ is richly aware of the presence of God with us. So perhaps we can conclude this reflection with the prayer which Coltrane himself offered.

‘May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain – it is with God – in all ways and forever. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.’
Amen.