Musical Transcendence: The Legacy of John Coltrane’s Vision of World Music
“My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being.” John Coltrane
A transcultural re-imagining of the music of John & Alice Coltrane and beyond, featuring an eclectic collection of instruments, sounds, rhythms, and melodies from around the world by some of Canada’s top jazz and global musicians. Inspired by the counter-cultural spiritual revelations of John and Alice Coltrane in the late 60’s, Jonathan and Andrew Kay are continuing the Coltrane’s search for a “multicultural theory of musical transcendence.” Based on their roots as jazz musicians in Toronto and inspired by their extensive training in North Indian classical music while living in Kolkata, the Kay brothers have been experimenting in re-imagining Coltrane’s music through a unique and compelling transcultural lens. In 2021, the Kay brothers released their first album The Coltrane Sutras in collaboration with renowned jazz musicians Roberto Occhipinti and Pat LaBarbera. The full band features a dynamic percussion section featuring Adam Teixeira on drumset, and Dhaivat Jani on tablas and percussion.
John Coltrane was an innovator, a visionary, a revolutionary and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He endlessly redefined musical horizon’s in search of a universal music to unite humanity and transform the world into a place of heaven. As a leading influence of the counter-cultural Jazz revolution of the 1960’s, Coltrane influenced a paradigm shift marked by deep existential inquiry. His search lead him to find wisdom in Eastern religious and spiritual cultures, leading him to integrate non-western ways of musical knowing into his own unique voice that could be described as spiritual expressionism. Coltrane devoted the last years of his life in search of a “multicultural theory of musical transcendence”, and believed not only in a universal musical structure that transcended ethnic distinctions, but also in being able to harness the mystical powers of music itself. Coltrane’s studies of Indian music with Ravi Shankar led him to believe that certain sounds and scales could “produce specific emotional meanings”, and stated “all a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.”
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Check out: “Coltrane Sutras” “Dusk Dawn Suite: Alabama • Dusk-Dawn • Offering • Peace on Earth”
