John Coltrane, one of the most prolific saxophonists even to this day, long after his death, left a lasting impact on the definition of jazz music. Primarily playing bebop and hard bop, his tone was very notably in your face and some may call it harsh. Additionally, he played in free jazz and is famous for very crazy, wild chord changes in songs such as Giant Steps.

As nearly all jazz musicians know, Giant Steps could be compared to Superman’s kryptonite. While the melody is not note-dense, the tempo is very fast (in the 280-290bpm range for the musicians reading this), and the chord structure is EXTREMELY dense. The song cycles through 3 keys and changes chords every two beats for a lot of the song. In the original recording, you can hear Coltrane rip through a variety of complex and fast lines over these changes. However, when the pianist, Tommy Flanagan, solos, he seemingly gets lost and has a hard time soloing over the changes. While he has gotten a lot of hate for it (leading him to make his own redemption recording of Giant Steps), others bring up the point that as a pianist, it is much more difficult to sight read a song and outline chords with the left hand while soloing on the right all while following an extremely fast and difficult song form.

Here’s a video by Vox about Giant Steps and the fear it invokes in those who hear its name.

Recently I came across a short NPR podcast, only a 4 minute listen, about an eclectic church that preaches the message of John Coltrane. To briefly summarize, a young couple from San Francisco heard Coltrane perform and were incredibly inspired by his music. So inspired that they formed a church inspired by his music. The two had front row seats and they say “the Holy Spirit walked out with Coltrane onto the stage if the Jazz Workshop.” To further quote the podcast, “John Coltrane became their Christ, their God. His 1965 album A Love Supreme became their central text, and “Coltrane consciousness” became their guiding principle.”

This backstory is certainly quite intriguing and maybe even a touch concerning to anyone that first learns of this. I personally have mixed feelings. While he was certainly an incredible performer, the religious revelation that this couple faced seems to stem from more than just Coltrane’s playing, keep in mind this was the 1960’s. The article is a fascinatingly inquisitive read / listen and I suggest you take a look. Agree or disagree, it is quite humorous how a church stemmed from the performance of one of the most famous jazz musicians of the time.