A Love Supreme

A Love Supreme is a popular jazz album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet on December 9, 1964 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album is a four-part suite, broken up into tracks called "Acknowledgement," "Resolution," "Pursuance," and "Psalm." It is considered a spiritual album and broadly representative of a personal struggle for purity. The final track, "Psalm," uniquely corresponds to the wording of a devotional poem Coltrane included in the liner notes.

"A Love Supreme" features McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. It was produced by Bob Thiele. An alternate version of "Acknowledgement" was recorded the next day on December 10. This alternate version included tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp. The sole live performance of the "Love Supreme" suite from a 1965 performance in Antibes, France, was also remastered and released by Impulse! Records with the original album and additional outtakes.

"A Love Supreme" is usually listed among the greatest jazz albums of all time.

See also

• Variations On A Love Supreme
• Ashley Kahn A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album, foreword by Elvin Jones, 2002 for the first edition, Viking Penguin, USA, ISBN 0670031364