March 25, 2025, 6:51 a.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Followers of the John Coltrane Church in San Francisco have venerated the jazz musician of the same name, who died in 1967, as a saint since his death. The masses that take place every week revolve around his music and regularly attract audiences from all over the world. It all started with a couple who heard his music shortly before Coltrane's death - and said they had a kind of awakening experience.
It is undisputed that music can trigger diverse and very powerful emotions in us. But in San Francisco there is probably the only building in the world in which a musician is revered in a quasi-religious way because of his art. The John Coltrane Church, the name of the unusual place of worship, has praised the musician of the same name as a saint since his death in 1967 and has even officially awarded him this “title”. The trade fairs, in which everything revolves around the music of the exceptional jazz artist, now attract audiences from all over the world.
Couple experiences “sound baptism”
Driven out by gentrification
“Singing, clapping and dancing”
Couple experiences “sound baptism”
The beginnings of St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church, the official name of the self-proclaimed church, go back to an experience that its founders had in 1965, according to the official website. At that time, Franzo and Marina King, who still run the idiosyncratic house of faith today, went to a concert by the artist John Coltrane together. They wanted to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and experienced what they often referred to in later interviews as their “sound baptism” during the show. The music made such a lasting impression on them that they thought they could see and feel the Holy Spirit at work in Coltrane.
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Driven out by gentrification
When Coltrane died of liver cancer on July 17, 1967, aged just 40, the couple felt called to preserve his memory forever in a very special way. With the founding of the John Coltrane Church. Back then, it was actually just a place called a “jazz club,” where like-minded people met and enjoyed the artist’s music. “We felt like we were bringing music back to the community,” the couple said on the church website. However, the mere shared reception of sounds soon became more.
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The “Jazz Club” renamed itself the “Yardbird Club” and eventually the “Yardbird Temple,” where Coltrane's friends and fans soon began practices such as meditation, fasting and prayer, inspired by the “spiritual elevation through music.” As a result of the ever-increasing gentrification in San Francisco, the resulting John Coltrane Church had to move numerous times in the following years. The house came under additional pressure because for several years it sympathized with the radical Black Panther Party, which sometimes used violence to defend the rights of the black population.
“Singing, clapping and dancing”
In 1981, the John Coltrane Church became an official member of the Black Orthodox Church, which had been founded in 1921. She even canonized the musician John Coltrane in 1984 and has known him since then as St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane. On the official website, the jazz musician is depicted in the biblical style of a classic icon, with a halo and a saxophone from which flames blaze. The music and lyrics of his 1965 album “A Love Surpreme” are central to the artist's worship.
Those interested can experience all of this every Sunday at the John Coltrane Church, which is now located at 2 Marina Boulevard in San Francisco. It starts at 11 a.m. The website says: “We invite everyone to take part in the mass by singing, clapping your hands and dancing.” You are also welcome to bring your own musical instruments. Every first Sunday of the month there is also a joint meditation to the sounds of “A Love Surpreme”. Admission is free and open to everyone, but you can donate or purchase Coltrane merchandise on the website.
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