My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being...When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups...I want to speak to their souls.

Coltrane's study of Indian music led him to believe that certain sounds and scales could "produce specific emotional meanings. The album was composed at Coltrane's home in Dix Hills on Long Island. The new soprano sound was coupled with further exploration.

As his career progressed Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. He organized at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career and appeared as a sideman on many other albums notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. He received many posthumous awards and recognitions including canonization by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane.