Jazz writer Ashley Kahn is building a career by detailing the origins of great jazz albums, first with his absorbing volume, Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, and now with this thorough and highly engrossing overview of Coltrane’s 1964 spiritual opus, A Love Supreme. Kahn leaves no stone unturned in chronicling the work’s conception, examining the cultural context that shaped it, and evaluating why it has reached such a broad audience over time (it is the one jazz album most likely to be found in collections of people only casually interested in jazz).

What's more, Kahn is an admirably objective biographer who delves deep into the creative process behind the album: its planning, production, recording, editing, design, and marketing. We’re treated to a solo-by-solo walk-through of the entire work, but unlike some jazz studies, the musical analysis is presented coherently and without pretense. The book is also packed with fascinating anecdotes and commentary by Coltrane’s legendary sidemen (Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison), contemporary musicians (Dave Liebman, Joshua Redman, Ravi Coltrane), and Coltrane himself (with several unpublished interviews). We learn about the album’s significance for other musical genres, through interviews with dozens of musicians including Bono and Phil Lesh.

Complementing Kahn’s engaging prose is a feast of rare images. Fans and historians will devour these, as well as nuggets like an eyewitness account of Coltrane’s only live performance of A Love Supreme (Antibes, France, 1965), or in-studio recollections of a long-rumored sextet version of the work from December 1964. Still, there's much the casual listener will enjoy, and with the holidays fast approaching, it’s a perfect gift for anyone with an interest in American music.

Related Information

Book Signing! Ashley Kahn and McCoy Tyner will be signing copies of the book December 3 at 7pm at the Tower Records at 4th Street and Broadway in New York. For more information, call 212-505-1500.

Visit the book’s Web site to view some fascinating video clips, including Trane and his men playing A Love Supreme live in 1965—an amazing clip almost two whole minutes long!