The Church of Saint Coltrane (1996)

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

26 min

Rating

8.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short documentary explores a San Francisco church that made jazz saxophonist John Coltrane its patron saint. It shows how the church blends weekly jam sessions with religious services and fellowship.

reverentmusicalspiritualobservationalserenedocumentary-stylecelebratory

What happens

The Church of Saint Coltrane is a short documentary film produced by Alan Klingenstein, directed by Jeff Swimmer and edited by Andrew Fredericks. It was filmed in 1996. Its subject is the famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, who became deeply religious after overcoming his addictions to alcohol and heroin in 1957. Posthumously, he was made the patron saint of the St. John William Coltrane African Orthodox Church church in San Francisco, which holds jam sessions every Sunday that are "five-hour jam sessions interspersed with liturgy, sermons, and fellowship." The 26 minute documentary film received awards at seven film festivals. In 1998, it was shown on BRAVO, then sold to cable networks in Europe and Asia. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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