Great to see you here, Hank. I've always been uncomfortable with the notion that some music is more "spiritual" than others when it really just comes down to stylistic choices made by the artist. Some combination of long vamps, "Eastern" influences, small tinkering percussion instruments equals spiritual. Charlie Parker and Bud Powell seemingly visited by ghosts when they solo is, however, not spiritual. These days, it's just a reductionist marketing term - something decidedly NOT spiritual!
Insightful and beautifully-crafted essay, Hank. I heard Jewels of Thought when it first came out, and even though I'd already been listening to Trane, it completely blew my 13-year-old mind. The terror and the beauty!... Had the tremendous good fortune to experience Pharoah and much of the same band (including Leon Thomas) at the Jazz Workshop in Boston a few years later. They levitated the room.
nice to see you on Substack, Hank! I will link to this fine essay soon.
Great to see you here, Hank. I've always been uncomfortable with the notion that some music is more "spiritual" than others when it really just comes down to stylistic choices made by the artist. Some combination of long vamps, "Eastern" influences, small tinkering percussion instruments equals spiritual. Charlie Parker and Bud Powell seemingly visited by ghosts when they solo is, however, not spiritual. These days, it's just a reductionist marketing term - something decidedly NOT spiritual!
Insightful and beautifully-crafted essay, Hank. I heard Jewels of Thought when it first came out, and even though I'd already been listening to Trane, it completely blew my 13-year-old mind. The terror and the beauty!... Had the tremendous good fortune to experience Pharoah and much of the same band (including Leon Thomas) at the Jazz Workshop in Boston a few years later. They levitated the room.