Includes bibliographical references and index.

You have to be invited : reflections on music making and musician creation in black American culture / Leonard L. Brown -- In his own words : Coltrane's responses to critics / Leonard L. Brown -- John Coltrane and the practice of freedom / Herman Gray -- John Coltrane as the personification of spirituality in black music / Anthony Brown -- Freedom is a constant struggle : Alice Coltrane and the redefining of the jazz avante-garde / Tammy L. Kernodle -- When bar walkers preach : John Coltrane and the crisis of the black intellectual / Tommy L. Lott -- "Don't let the devil (make you) lose your joy" : a look at late Coltrane / Salim Washington -- The spiritual ethos in black music and its quintessential exemplar, John Coltrane / Emmett G. Price III -- Somebody please say, "Amen!" / Eric D, Jackson -- Masters on a master introduction : Anthony Brown's and Leonard L. Brown's conversations with Olly Wilson, Yusef Lateef and Billy Taylor -- Conversation with Olly Wilson -- Conversation with Yusef Lateef -- Conversation with Billy Taylor -- Coda : George Russell on John Coltrane.