This article passed through my newsfeed today and, while I haven't had the chance to give either parts a full listen yet, I can guarantee that they'll get plenty of action from me during my work week. I'm sure there are some other jazz fans here on the site who may enjoy this bit of musical history all rolled into a couple of long-play mixes.
I will say, however, that it's a little weird they used the cover of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" for the mixes, but didn't include any of Miles' stuff on either mix considering how influential his stuff was for this particular aesthetic, but whatever.
Enjoy!
http://www.openculture.com/2016/09/the-history-of-spiritual-jazz.html?fbclid=IwAR1QzOYjXEWzcV__CBvVvvhjijpMLL2K14CexzHY2uLAsIJYb6IaXcQXG04
'Jazz has inspired a great many things, and a great many things have inspired jazz, and more than a few of the music's masters have found their aspiration by looking — or listening — to the divine. But that doesn't necessarily mean they subscribe to traditional religion. As befits this naturally eclectic music that grew from an inherently eclectic country before it internationalized, its players tend to have an eclectic conception of the divine. In some of their interpretations, that conception sounds practically all-encompassing. You can experience the full spectrum of these aural visions, from the deeply personal to the fathomlessly cosmic, in this four-part, twelve-hour playlist of spiritual jazz from London online radio station NTS.
"During the tumultuous '60s, there was a religious revolution to accompany the grand societal, sexual, racial, and cultural shifts already afoot," writes Pitchfork's Andy Beta. "Concurrently, the era’s primary African-American art form reflected such upheaval in its music, too: Jazz began to push against all constraints, be it chord changes, predetermined tempos, or melodies, so as to best reflect the pursuit of freedom in all of its forms."
This culminated in John Coltrane's masterpiece A Love Supreme, which opened the gates for other jazz players seeking the transcendent, using everything from "the sacred sound of the Southern Baptist church in all its ecstatic shouts and yells" to "enlightenment from Southeastern Asian esoteric practices like transcendental meditation and yoga."
It goes without saying that you can't talk about spiritual jazz without talking about John Coltrane. Nor can you ignore the distinctive music and theology of Herman Poole Blount, better known as Sun Ra, composer, bandleader, music therapist, Afrofuturist, and teacher of a course called "The Black Man in the Cosmos." NTS' expansive mix offers work from both of them and other familiar artists like Alice Coltrane, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, Ornette Coleman, and many more (including players from as far away from the birthplace of jazz as Japan) who, whether or not you've heard of them before, can take you to places you've never been before. Start listening with the embedded first part of the playlist above; continue on to parts two, three, and four, and maybe — just maybe — you'll come out of it wanting to found a church of your own.'
https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/black-classical-history-of-spiritual-jazz-part-1/
Pt. 1
Tracklist:
FRED STONE-THEME FROM LAURENCE OF ARABIA FRED STONE-ELISSA BOB THIELE-LAMENT FOR JOHN COLTRANE BOB THIELE-LOVE SUPREME DWIGHT TRIBLE-IN THE BEGINNING GOD MASSIMO URBANI QUARTET-DEDICATION TO ALBERT AYLER ELVIN JONES-LOVE SUPREME MASSIMO URBANI QUARTET-DEDICATION TO JOHN COLTRANE FAMILY OF PERCUSSION-CIRCULUS AQUAE SUNDAY PALAVER-LAST MARCH SARAH WEBSTER FABIO-BLACKCLASSICAL REMIXES CHEIKH TIDIANE FALL-AFRICAN SPIRITUAL SOLDIER CHEIKH TIDIANE FALL-AFRICAN ANCESTRIAL PIECE SARAH WEBSTER FABIO-TURN FROM LOVE SUN RA-ANTIQUE BLACKS SOLOMAN IRIA-PRAYER DAVID S WARE-THEME FROM THE STARGAZERS KARMU DAAHOUD-DEEP RIVER IN HER VOICE KAHN JAMAL-DRUM DANCE TO THE MOTHERLOADE MOR THAIM-RETURN OF THE FISHER KING PYRAMIDS-ANOMAWA PYRAMIDS-BIRTH SPEED AND MERGING PYRAMIDS-LALIBELA SUITE PYRAMIDS-SPEED PYRAMIDS-KING OF KINGS PYRAMIDS-INDIGO PYRAMIDS-YA KE YA KE PYRAMIDS-LAND OF THE ETERNAL NILE HERBIE HANCOCK / DON CHERRY / MTUME-KAWAIDA PYRAMIDS-QUEEN OF SPIRITS BROTHER AH-SWEET ILLUMINATION JJ CLAYTON-FRAGMENTS JEF GILSON-MALAGASY SAM RIVERS-TOPAZ EDWARD VESALA-CALL OF THE SEA ORACY-THE WEIGHT DON'T MAKE THINGS NO LIGHTER WARREN SMITH-ECHORA RICHARD ABRAHAMS-DEGREES AND LEVELS OF LIGHT SUN RA-MAYAN TEMPLES AMIR BAKRA-I LOVE MUSIC AMIR BAKRA-BLACK MASS EXCERPT DON RENDELL-SPACE WALK WARREN SMITH-ANN OF NIZGH INFINATE SOUND-SPAIN INFINATE SOUND-OCEAN BABATUNDE LEE-LION'S WALK
https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/black-classical-history-of-spiritual-jazz-part-2/
Pt. 2
Tracklist:
INFINATE SOUND-OCEAN (REPRISE) GRIOT GALAXY-NECROPHILLIA GRIOT GALAXY-AFTER THE DREAM GRIOT GALAXY-DRAGONS DIZZY REECE-NIRVANA DIZZY REECE-POSSESSION DIZZY REECE-CRISIS CARLOS GARNETT-BLACK NILE CARLOS GARNETT-DAWID GRIOT GALAXY-KHAMTI NOBLIA TWO BANKS OF FOUR-ONE DAY CHEIKH TIDIANE FALL-FEW MAKA BLACK SNOW TERUMASSA HINO / MAL WALDROM-REMINISCENCE SUITE BUILD AN ARK-NATURE ROY BROOKS AND THE ARTISTIC TRUTH-BLACK SURVIVAL EDWARD VESALA-WIND MILTON MARSH-EVERLASTING DON CHERRY-BRAZILIAN CEREMONIAL HYMN MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS-HOW ARE YOU? ORGANIC MUSIC SOCIETY-RELATIVITY SUITE PART 1 ORGANIC MUSIC SOCIETY-MANUSCHA RAGA KAMBOJI JOHN COLTRANE-WELCOME JOHN COLTRANE-OM KARMU DAÅHOUD-POEM FOR OUR MAJESTIC ANCESTORS LES OUBLIÉS DE JAZZ ENSEMBLE-NIGGER/UR/AH MUSICIAN NOBUO HARA SHARPS AND FLATS-SOHRAN BUSHI BABS ROBERT LOVE PLANET EXTRA POL ACTION-ICE CREAM 70 CHARLES TOLLIVER'S MUSIC-INC RUTHIES HEART DINAMITRI JAZZ FOLKLORE-KONGO BELLS AMIRI BARAKA-THERE REALLY WAS AN AFRICA POEM MASAHIKO TOGASHI-THE BEGINNING JOHN COLTRANE-DEARLY BELOVED DAVE LEE JR-SPIRIT VOICES EDDIE GALE-IT MUST BE YOU BRUCE JOHNSON-RAINSTORM/CALM/PEACE DONALD ALEXANDER STRACHAN AND THE FREEDOM ENSEMBLE-SONG OF SEARCHING COZZI ANATZ-HORTUS PHILIP COHRAN AND THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE-BLACK BEAUTY AZAR LAWRENCE-THE BEAUTIFUL AND OMNIPRESENCE OF LOVE