Music Monday: Ascension at Easter

While mostly I post on Music Monday about albums that I like, sometimes I will post about albums that I love. On Easter, I try to set aside time to listen to John Coltrane’s Ascension (1966) which is my favorite Coltrane album. 

I’ll post it here with a minimum of explanation partly because there’s so much written about it and partly because the album really doesn’t need much context.

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Recently, I’ve come to think of Ascension as the sonic—and in some way physical— manifestation of Coltrane’s evolving spirituality. In this regard, his understanding of Ascension resonates with the Christian concept of the incarnation.

At the same time, one wonders whether the division between the spiritual and the lived or performed (the sonic, the hearing, the experienced, and so on) represents a valid dichotomy in this case. If we understand Coltrane’s spirituality primarily though his music, is it necessary for us to assume that it exists outside of its musical manifestation?  Some days when I listen to this I feel like Coltrane’s music represents the kind of tangible spirituality that the world needs right now.