Scott McLemore

45 years ago this past Wednesday John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones walked into Rudy Van Gelder's studio and made musical history. Who knows if Coltrane knew then the enormity of what they were about to do, but it was obviously a deeply felt and most sincere work of art. That sincerity was incredibly well received and A Love Supreme's influence was felt throughout the jazz world and beyond.

In fact, it was felt all the way up here in Iceland! ASA Trio, the collective organ trio of which I'm a third, decided to perform the suite on it's most recent concert at Cafe Cultura (as part of the Múlinn concert series), and it went quite well. You can download our version absolutely free here. I was personally very hesitant to take on the piece, but Andrés Thor, the guitarist, convinced me.

You see, playing "A Love Supreme" is not like playing a standard, and it doesn't really make sense to me to approach it that way. The suite is as much or more about dynamic movement and ambiance as it is about the actual written notes. There is actually very little melodic content. There are only a few phrases that repeat and the rest is improvised. With a tune like "Stella by Starlight" one can imagine it being played in a variety of tempos. Even Trane's own "Giant Steps" is nice as a ballad, samba, burning fast, in odd meters… You get the picture.

But that four note phrase that is the opening movement, "Acknowledgement," feels so sacred that to approach it in any other aesthetic would be missing the point. To play the first movement fast, second slow and third slower, while possible, would lose the shape and impact that was intended.

In this sense, the suite is one of the closest things to classical music that jazz has to offer. That being said, there is still a ton of room for individual expression. I didn't feel boxed-in at all while we were playing it, but rather "Wow, we're really doing this."

Maybe I'm being closed minded. Maybe it is possible to re-arrange it drastically and still retain the overall feel of the piece. What do you think?

Now that I really think hard, I can kind of hear those four notes in 7/8… I'm just not sure it's better that way.