Spiritual jazz (or astral jazz) is a sub-genre of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

that originated in the United States during the 1960s. The genre is hard to characterize musically but draws from free,

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and

modal jazz Modal jazz is jazz that makes use of musical modes, often modulating among them to accompany the chords instead of relying on one tonal center used across the piece. Though exerting influence to the present, modal jazz was most popular in th ...

and thematically focuses on transcendence and

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

's 1965 album ''

A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist J ...

'' is considered a landmark in the genre.

Musical style

Spiritual jazz does not follow a strictly defined musical style but generally features elements of

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...

and

with influences from Asian and

African music The continent of Africa is vast and its music is diverse, with different regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres like makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva ...

. Quartal harmonies, the

Dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...

, meditative sounds as well as the musical language of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

are often employed in spiritual jazz. Musicians frequently play instruments not traditionally used in jazz or western music, electric keyboards and utilise the

recording studio as an instrument In music production, the recording studio is often treated as a musical instrument when it plays a significant role in the music composition, composition of music. Sometimes called "playing the studio", the approach is typically embodied by artis ...

History

Origins

Critics usually associate spiritual jazz with the 1960s but the beginnings of the genre can be traced to the sacred jazz and similar works of the 1940s and 1950s such as ''

Black, Brown and Beige ''Black, Brown and Beige'' is an extended jazz work written by Duke Ellington for his first concert at Carnegie Hall, on January 23, 1943. It tells the history of African Americans and was the composer's attempt to transform attitudes about race, ...

'' by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, '' Zodiac Suite'' by

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

, and ''Jazz at the Vespers'' by George Lewis. During the 1960s in the United States, the civil rights movement was occurring, causing societal change and political movements. As a result,

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

people gained more freedom to celebrate their culture and to express themselves religiously. This led to a desire to push the conventions of jazz, with some artists choosing to search for transcendence and

in their music.

's 1965 album ''

'' is generally considered the genesis of spiritual jazz though Coltrane can be heard developing the sound on the song " Spiritual" recorded four years earlier. ''Treblezine'' wrote "Spiritual jazz begins, essentially, with John Coltrane," while ''Pitchfork'' wrote "This musical exploration f spiritualitywas epitomized by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane". ''A Love Supreme'' and other works by John Coltrane inspired other jazz musicians to create music searching for transcendence. For example,

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

and Don Cherry were considered to have taken inspiration from Coltrane's spiritual works. After John Coltrane's death in 1967, his wife Alice Coltrane and Sanders—both who had previously played with Coltrane—were some of the first to continue the sound of the genre. Coltrane's 1971 album '' Journey in Satchidananda'' combined spiritual jazz with influences from

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

, after her journey into spirituality with help from Swami Satchidananda. ''Journey in Satchidananda'' used ''ragas'', harps,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

s, and ouds to achieve its sound. Pharoah Sanders took inspiration from Arabic, Indian, and Afro-Cuban music to create early spiritual jazz albums, including '' Tauhid'' (1967) and ''

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

'' (1969)''.''

Continuations

Many artists other than Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders were inspired by John Coltrane's spiritual jazz works. Prevalent artists of this era of spiritual jazz included

Lonnie Liston Smith Lonnie Liston Smith Jr. (born December 28, 1940) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with such jazz artists as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of ...

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

, and Don Cherry.'''' Saxophonist Albert Ayler was a student of John Coltrane, known for his "uncanny, visceral, and startlingly new" take on jazz tradition and his use of

spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...

, as seen in 1969's '' Music is the Healing Force of the Universe.'' Electric keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, inspired by his work with Pharaoh Sanders, released his debut album '' Astral Traveling'' in 1973. According to Brian Zimmerman, "While 'Astral Traveling''does tap into that spiritual element, it's got a "poppier" vein running through it." Bandleader Sun Ra's spiritual jazz was influenced by

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

and went on to inspire

Afrofuturism Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture ...

.'''' According to ''Jazziz'', '' Space Is the Place'' (1973) is one of Ra's "most famous albums".' Saxophonist

Azar Lawrence Azar Lawrence (born November 3, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his contributions as sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. Career Lawrence released ''Summer Solstice'' on Prestige Records in 1975, ...

—described as a "Coltrane devotee" by

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

—released '' Bridge into the New Age'' in 1974. The album has been influential on young jazz musicians in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as recent as the 2020s.

Contemporary

Spiritual jazz was primarily present during the 1960s and 1970s, although the genre is still currently created to a lesser extent. Examples of spiritual jazz albums from the 2010s and 2020s include '' The Epic'' by Kamasi Washington (2015), ''Wisdom of Elders'' by Shabaka & The Ancestors (2016), '' There is a Place'' by Maisha (2019), ''Reverence'' by Muriel Grossman (2019), and '' Cosmic Transitions'' by Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few (2021). According to ''Treblezine'', "Kamasi Washington brought spiritual jazz back to popular consciousness on a wider scale in 2015 with the release of 'The Epic''.

wrote: "Washington is attracting many young enthusiasts to the jazz scene."

References

Further information

* * {{jazz