The Campbell Brothers
John Coltrane’s Love Supreme
DUKE PERFORMANCES PREMIERE: FRI, SEP 5, 2014
The sacred steel tradition was born in the meeting of African-American gospel music and amplified steel guitar in the House of God Church. The Campbell Brothers are the musicians most responsible for bringing this form from the church to the concert stage. Commissioned by Duke Performances and Lincoln Center Out of Doors, they took on John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, interpreting the seminal work anew.
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Coltrane’s landmark recording, the Campbells lend their virtuosity and devout conviction to one of the most deeply sanctified works in the jazz canon. On September 5, 2014, they presented A Love Supreme at the Hayti Heritage Center, kicking off the annual Bull Durham Blues Festival. Phil Cook, Megafaun’s roots music savant, and Piedmont blues stalwart John Dee Holeman opened for the Campbells’ ecstatic premiere.
CREDITS
The Campbell Brothers’ sacred steel version of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme was commissioned by Lincoln Center Out of Doors and Duke Performances at Duke University. The piece premiered at Lincoln Center at NYC on August 8, 2014, and was co-presented in Durham by Duke Performances and St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation/Hayti Heritage Center, in the opening concert of the Bull Durham Blues Festival.
Made possible, in part, with support from the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
PRESS
- Walker Art Magazine, Coltrane’s Sacred Testimony: The Campbell Brothers Preach A Love Supreme
- Calgary Herald, The Campbell Brothers find the gospel according to John Coltrane in A Love Supreme
- Star Tribune, Campbell Brothers take on Coltrane’s “Supreme” Challenge
- Times Colonist, Brothers find A Love Supreme
- FLi Artists, Campbell Brothers: A Love Supreme