The Political Use of the Figure of John Coltrane in American Poetry

John Coltrane, one of the most influential and important musicians and composers of the 20th century, began to inspire jazz musicians and American poets in the 1960s with the Black Arts Movement poets. His music was interpreted and used for the promotion of political ideas in the poetics of Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Muhammad Toure, Larry Neal and others. Thisis the political Coltrane poetry. On the other hand, Coltrane\u27s music inspired another kind of poets, the musical poets, which began to emerge in the 1970s. In this case, the poetry reflects the true nature of Coltrane\u27s spiritual music quest. The poets belonging to this group, like Michael S. Harper, William Matthews, Jean Valentine, Cornelius Eady, Philip Levine, Nathaniel Mackey and others, go beyond politics, beyond race or gender. In this essay I will investigate the first type of Coltrane poetry, where Coltrane\u27s music was used to promote the political ideas of the Black Art Movements in connection with the political movement of Malcolm X. These poets changed, rearticulated and shifted Coltrane\u27s spiritually musical message towards the principles of the black nationalism.John Coltrane je eden najbolj vplivnejših in najpomembnejših glasbenikov in skladateljev 20. stoletja, saj je njegova glasba spremenila svet jazza in svetpoezije ter postavila nove standarde v obeh umetniških krogih. John Coltrane je bil navdih jazz glasbenikom in ameriškim pesnikom že v 60ih letih prejšnjega stoletja, saj so pesniki Black Arts gibanja, kot so Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Muhammad Toure, Larry Neal in drugi uporabili in interpretirali njegovo glasbo za namene politične propagande v svoji poeziji. V tem primeru gre za politično Coltrane poezijo. Po drugi strani je bila glasba Johna Coltranea navdih za drugo vrsto pesnikov, glasbeno Coltrane poezijo, ki se je pričela pojavljati v 70ih letih 20. stoletja, kjer je poezija izražala resnično duhovno sporočilo Coltraneove glasbe. Pesniki, ki spadajo v to skupino, kot so Michael S. Harper, William Matthews, Jean Valentine, Cornelius Eady, Philip Levine, Nathaniel Mackey, so pisali poezijo preko meja politike, spola ali obravnavanja rasne tematike. V tem eseju se bomosredotočil na prvo vrsto Coltrane poezije, kjer je Coltraneova glasba služila za promocijo političnih idej gibanja Black Arts v povezavi s političnimi idejami Malcolma X. Ti pesniki so spremenili in premaknili Coltraneovo duhovno glasbeno sporočilo v sfere črnskega nacionalizma