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St John Coltrane Church faces eviction, a sign of San Francisco's lost jazz history St John Coltrane Church faces eviction, a sign of San Francisco's lost jazz history
(about 1 hour later)
It’s standing room only at the Saint John Coltrane Church’s service on Sunday, 28 February. But no one wants to sit down anyway.It’s standing room only at the Saint John Coltrane Church’s service on Sunday, 28 February. But no one wants to sit down anyway.
Drawn by the news that the 48-year-old San Francisco institution is facing eviction, the crowd of longtime parishioners and first-time visitors dance and sway through the 90 minute “sound exorcism” that begins the religious service. Drawn by the news that the 48-year-old San Francisco institution is facing eviction, the crowd of longtime parishioners and first-time visitors dance and sway through the 90-minute “sound exorcism” that begins the religious service.
Related: San Francisco, then and nowRelated: San Francisco, then and now
The Archbishop wails on the saxophone, the pastor plays the upright bass, “sound ministers” take solos on the drums, keyboard, harmonica, and alto sax, and the Supreme Mother Reverend leads the vocals through the long musical interlude that finds divinity in the music of jazz legend John Coltrane. The archbishop wails on the saxophone, the pastor plays the upright bass, “sound ministers” take solos on the drums, keyboard, harmonica and alto sax, and the supreme mother reverend leads the vocals through the long musical interlude that finds divinity in the music of jazz legend John Coltrane.
“It’s like a funeral,” Archbishop Franzo King joked to the packed room. “Everybody shows up when somebody’s dead.”“It’s like a funeral,” Archbishop Franzo King joked to the packed room. “Everybody shows up when somebody’s dead.”
The Saint John Coltrane Church isn’t dead yet, but in a city pockmarked with signs reading, “Eviction = Death”, the writing is on the wall. The Saint John Coltrane Church isn’t dead yet, but in a city pockmarked with signs reading “Eviction = Death”, the writing is on the wall.
An eviction notice was posted on the church door on 24 February. As of Tuesday, 1 March, the church has 60 days to leave its home on Fillmore Street. Its departure will mark the shuttering of one of the few remaining jazz venues in the neighborhood once known as the “Harlem of the West”.An eviction notice was posted on the church door on 24 February. As of Tuesday, 1 March, the church has 60 days to leave its home on Fillmore Street. Its departure will mark the shuttering of one of the few remaining jazz venues in the neighborhood once known as the “Harlem of the West”.
“This was the heart of the black community,” says King. “You could live in the Fillmore, you could work in the Fillmore, and you could go to the bank and cash a check that a black person signed. It’s not like that anymore.”“This was the heart of the black community,” says King. “You could live in the Fillmore, you could work in the Fillmore, and you could go to the bank and cash a check that a black person signed. It’s not like that anymore.”
Franzo and Marina King were celebrating their first wedding anniversary in 1965 when they first experienced the transformative power of John Coltrane’s music when they saw him play at a now defunct jazz nightclub in San Francisco.Franzo and Marina King were celebrating their first wedding anniversary in 1965 when they first experienced the transformative power of John Coltrane’s music when they saw him play at a now defunct jazz nightclub in San Francisco.
That experience – what the couple calls their “sound baptism” – touched off a lifelong religious exploration for them of the intersection between Coltrane and Christianity.That experience – what the couple calls their “sound baptism” – touched off a lifelong religious exploration for them of the intersection between Coltrane and Christianity.
We experienced the effectual transference of the Holy Ghost through soundWe experienced the effectual transference of the Holy Ghost through sound
“We experienced the effectual transference of the Holy Ghost through sound,” King wrote on the church’s website.“We experienced the effectual transference of the Holy Ghost through sound,” King wrote on the church’s website.
The nascent religious order went through a few different incarnations as the Yardbird Temple and the One Mind Temple before it joined the African Orthodox Church in 1981, a black Episcopalian denomination that officially canonized Coltrane.The nascent religious order went through a few different incarnations as the Yardbird Temple and the One Mind Temple before it joined the African Orthodox Church in 1981, a black Episcopalian denomination that officially canonized Coltrane.
For most of its existence, the church operated out of a storefront on nearby Divisadero Street, where it ran social programs like a vegetarian soup kitchen. By the time the church moved to Fillmore Street ten years ago, the neighborhood that exists in the annals of jazz history was long gone. For most of its existence, the church operated out of a storefront on nearby Divisadero Street, where it ran social programs like a vegetarian soup kitchen. By the time the church moved to Fillmore Street, 10 years ago, the neighborhood that exists in the annals of jazz history was long gone.
“You look on the sidewalk, and you got [plaques with the] names of the black businesses that used to be here,” says King. “You look at the [Jazz] Heritage Building, and you got pictures of John Coltrane and Billie Holliday. But they’re not here. The culture is changed.”“You look on the sidewalk, and you got [plaques with the] names of the black businesses that used to be here,” says King. “You look at the [Jazz] Heritage Building, and you got pictures of John Coltrane and Billie Holliday. But they’re not here. The culture is changed.”
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Fillmore neighborhood bloomed into a cultural mecca for black people on the west coast, with clubs like Bop City, the Blue Mirror, and Jack’s of Sutter providing around-the-clock venues for traveling musicians. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Fillmore neighborhood bloomed into a cultural mecca for black people on the west coast, with clubs such as Bop City, the Blue Mirror and Jack’s of Sutter providing around-the-clock venues for traveling musicians.
“You could leave home on a Friday night, and didn’t have to come home until Sunday, ‘cause you could go to the clubs and then there were after-hour clubs, and on from there,” King recalled last week. “You could leave home on a Friday night, and didn’t have to come home until Sunday, ’cause you could go to the clubs and then there were after-hour clubs, and on from there,” King recalled last week.
But in postwar San Francisco, the neighborhood was targeted by the city’s new redevelopment agency. Entire blocks of African American-owned homes were razed for so-called urban renewal, displacing thousands of black families and the businesses and cultural institutions they had founded.But in postwar San Francisco, the neighborhood was targeted by the city’s new redevelopment agency. Entire blocks of African American-owned homes were razed for so-called urban renewal, displacing thousands of black families and the businesses and cultural institutions they had founded.
Today, San Francisco’s black population is less than 6%, down from 13.4% in 1970. Today San Francisco’s black population is less than 6%, down from 13.4% in 1970.
The sense of a lost community is palpable at the Sunday Service, where congregants raise funds in the hopes of buying a building of their own. The sense of a lost community is palpable at the Sunday service, where congregants raise funds in the hopes of buying a building of their own.
“The black community has been broken up through politics,” says Sister Brahmajyoti Lee, a founding member of the church. Born in Macon, Georgia, Lee moved to San Francisco with her mother at the age of 11. She was “introduced to the spirit of the music of John Coltrane” as a teenager, she says, and gave her life to the church. Now 62, she sings and claps along throughout the service.“The black community has been broken up through politics,” says Sister Brahmajyoti Lee, a founding member of the church. Born in Macon, Georgia, Lee moved to San Francisco with her mother at the age of 11. She was “introduced to the spirit of the music of John Coltrane” as a teenager, she says, and gave her life to the church. Now 62, she sings and claps along throughout the service.
“They want my community out of the city,” Lee says. “They want the African culture, but they want to get rid of the people that brought it here and keep it alive.”“They want my community out of the city,” Lee says. “They want the African culture, but they want to get rid of the people that brought it here and keep it alive.”
Still, members of the church are confident that the music will play on. As the service ends, Reverend Marlee-I Mystic, another King daughter, steps outside the church that she calls her “legacy”.Still, members of the church are confident that the music will play on. As the service ends, Reverend Marlee-I Mystic, another King daughter, steps outside the church that she calls her “legacy”.
“Maybe these first 48 years have been like the caterpillar, and now is a time for us to enter the cocoon and have a period of metamorphosis,” she says. “It’s an exciting time. We can emerge from this cocoon like a butterfly.”“Maybe these first 48 years have been like the caterpillar, and now is a time for us to enter the cocoon and have a period of metamorphosis,” she says. “It’s an exciting time. We can emerge from this cocoon like a butterfly.”