Alabama
John Coltrane (tenor sax)
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham,
Alabama, killing four young girls and injuring 22 other worshippers. The incident had a profound effect
on many Americans. One of them was John Coltrane, one of the leading Jazz saxophonists in the
1950s and 60s, when American Jazz was at its commercial peak.
Coltrane composed and performed “Alabama” that same year in response to the 16th Street bombing.
The song is an instrumental, with no words. Music historian Craig Werner describes it this way:
“Coltrane patterned his saxophone lines on the cadences of Martin Luther King’s oration at the
funeral of the four girls who died. Midway through the song, mirroring the part of the sermon where
King transforms mourning into a statement of renewed determination, Elvin Jones’s drums rise up
from a whisper to a tumult of directed anger. Propelled by the rhythms, Coltrane’s sax summons the
people to what can only be understood as a unified assault on Pharaoh’s palace.”
1 view
499
100
2 months ago 00:06:24 1
Whitesnake - Still of the Night (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:04:28 1
Starship - Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Official Music Video) [HD]
2 months ago 00:05:08 1
Laura Branigan - Self Control (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:03:23 1
Frankie Valli - Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (Official Audio)
2 months ago 00:07:17 3
Eric Clapton - Makes No Difference (Live) [Crossroads 2023]
2 months ago 00:05:01 1
Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:03:53 1
All Saints - Pure Shores (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:04:00 2
music theory is witchcraft
2 months ago 00:03:40 1
Chicago - Hard To Say I’m Sorry (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:05:07 1
Albums with the best first few seconds
2 months ago 00:01:56 2
“Afro Blue” by John Coltrane ( Played on Hohner Golden Melody mk2 Key of D)
2 months ago 00:37:33 1
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (2020 Remaster) [Full Album]
2 months ago 00:03:59 1
The Cars - Drive (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:03:48 1
ZZ Top - Rough Boy (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 01:55:08 1
Liquor mixed by Nuvertal
2 months ago 00:05:31 1
Miles Davis Quintet - It Never Entered My Mind
2 months ago 00:04:19 1
The B-52’s - Love Shack (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:04:50 1
Dokken - Dream Warriors (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:04:15 1
Dokken - It’s Not Love (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:02:50 1
Al Jolson - There’s a Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder
2 months ago 00:32:22 1
Komeda, Stanko, Dylag, Carlsson - TV Performance, 1967
2 months ago 00:04:34 1
Spacehog - In the Meantime (Official Music Video)
2 months ago 00:01:42 1
Giant Steps - Bob Mintzer solo on Guitar - Matteo Mancuso