Spiritual Jazz

Originating in the mid-1960s from the exploratory work of artists like *John Coltrane*, spiritual jazz merges the improvisational freedom of the avant-garde with a pronounced quest for transcendence. Its sonic palette is defined by modal vamps, intense, searching solos, and the integration of non-Western instrumentation such as harps, sitars, and extensive percussion. The genre's ethos is rooted in a universalist spirituality, drawing from African, Eastern, and Abrahamic religious traditions to create music that functions as a vehicle for meditation and ecstatic expression. Though seldom commercially dominant, its influence has permeated successive generations of improvising musicians.