St. Pachomius Library

John William Coltrane

XX Century
During his lifetime, the famous jazz saxophonist had no known connexion with Orthodoxy, although he did have a dramatic religious experience which caused him to abandon drugs and alcohol and begin a spiritual quest which he did not complete before his death. He appears in this library because he has been canonised by the (itself doubtfully canonical) African Orthodox Church, complete with a Byzantine-style ikon, and the juridsiction's most famous parish owes that status to being named for him.
Norman Hugh Redington

ABOUT:
- Martin Gayford: The "Saint" Who Killed Jazz. "Killed jazz" in the sense of bringing it to its final spiritual limit, according to African Orthodox Archbishop Franzo King, an assessment with which Gayford speaking as a music-critic unhappily agrees. Feature in the (UK) Telegraph, 2002. --- Telegraph
St. John Coltrane Parish, San Francisco: In 2000, high rents drove the parish from the sanctuary it had occupied since 1971; apparently it's now on Gough Street. I have been unable to find a current parish web page.
- M. Kahn: Coltrane's Followers Celebrate his Music: News story. --- Detroit News
- Aaron McCarroll Gallegos: Singing with All the Saints: --- The Other Side
- Don Knapp: Church of Coltrane will play on in new location: News story. --- CNN

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