Coltrane Alice

Journey in Satchidananda is the fourth solo album by Alice Coltrane. Its title (and title track) reflects Coltrane's inspiration by Swami Satchidananda whom Coltrane had become close to while being his disciple. "Shiva-Loka", or "realm of Shiva", refers to the realm of the third member of the Hindu trinity, the "dissolver of creation". "Stopover Bombay" refers to a five-week stay in India and Sri Lanka on which Coltrane was due to go in December 1970. "Something About John Coltrane" is based on themes by her late husband, John Coltrane. "Isis and Osiris", on which Charlie Haden replaces Cecil McBee on bass, and Vishnu Wood plays oud, indicates Coltrane's interest in Middle Eastern and North African music and culture. The presence of the tamboura, played by Tulsi, reflects Coltrane's interest in Indian classical music and religion.

This remastered two-fer combines Alice Coltrane's 1969 release Huntington Ashram Monastery with World Galaxy from 1972. Originally, these LPs were released separately on Impulse. Both sets are spiritual in nature, with the first three cuts on H.A.M. combining the majestically meditative harp of Coltrane with Ron Carter on bass and Rashied Ali on drums and percussion. Coltrane switches to piano on the album’s final three cuts bringing the free jazz component into focus, especially from Ali, who is slightly subdued on this date. World Galaxy opens and closes with two compositions associated with John Coltrane: "My Favorite Things" and a section from his masterpiece "A Love Supreme." Alice Coltrane is featured on harp, piano, and organ with saxophonist Frank Lowe, bassist Reggie Workman, drummer Ben Riley, violinist Leroy Jenkins, and a full string section…

Alice Coltrane is the undeniable godmother of spiritual jazz and an acknowledged influence on everyone from Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington to Solange and Radiohead. Kirtan: Turiya Sings features Alice Coltrane at peak spirituality and is presented in this arrangement for the first time in any format. Turyia Sings was originally released in 1982 on cassette as a collection of devotional songs including vocals, organ, strings, and synthesizers available only at Alice’s Sai Anantam Ashram. Kirtan: Turiya Sings features a sparser arrangement of organ and chanting, produced by Ravi Coltrane. This is intentional, devotional music created with the purpose of connecting to a higher power. The pared back arrangements on this new release are enchantingly haunting and encourage the listener to reach a meditative headspace so as to channel connectiveness to a greater spirit. The perfect introduction to Alice Coltrane for listeners interested in music for mediation and personal wellness. “Turiya” is short for Alice’s full Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda. “Kirtan” means “narrating, reciting, telling, describing, of an idea of story”.

Ptah, the El Daoud, recorded and released in 1970, is the third solo album by Alice Coltrane. The album was recorded in the basement of her house in Dix Hills on Long Island, New York. This was Coltrane's first album with horns (aside from one track on A Monastic Trio (1968), on which Pharoah Sanders played bass clarinet). Sanders is recorded on the right channel and Joe Henderson on the left channel throughout. Coltrane noted: "Joe Henderson is more on the intellectual side, while Pharoah is more abstract, more transcendental."

Sometimes written off as an also-ran to her more famous husband, Alice Coltrane's work of the late '60s and early '70s shows that she was a strong composer and performer in her own right, with a unique ability to impregnate her music with spirituality and gentleness without losing its edges or depth. Ptah, The El Daoud is a truly great album, and listeners who surrender themselves to it emerge on the other side of its 46 minutes transformed. From the purifying catharsis of the first moments of the title track to the last moments of "Mantra," with its disjointed piano dance and passionate ribbons of tenor cast out into the universe, the album resonates with beauty, clarity, and emotion. Coltrane's piano solo on "Turiya and Ramakrishna" is a lush, melancholy, soothing blues, punctuated only by hushed bells and the sandy whisper of Ben Riley's drums and later exchanged for an equally emotive solo by bassist Ron Carter.

Huntington Ashram Monastery was recorded in a trio format with Ron Carter (bass) and Rashied Ali (drums) supplementing Alice's harp and piano. This is a unique album in that the majority of the tracks feature harp solos. It' s a little strangehearing an instrument like the harp taking solos. especially when the majority of the numbers are what one might consider traditional jazz arrangements. There are a couple of exceptions to this though. For example, during "Via Sivanandagar" Carter takes a very cool bass solo, while "IHS" is almost an 8:45 solo piano piece from Alice.

John Coltrane & Alice Coltrane - Cosmic Music (1966) {Impulse!-Verve Originals rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 239 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 81 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 158 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / UMG | Verve Originals Series | B0015829-2 | LP AS-9148
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Free Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Saxophone

Issued in 1968, more than a year after John Coltrane's death, Cosmic Music is co-credited to John and Alice Coltrane. Trane appears on only two of the four tracks here (they are also the longest): "Manifestation" and "Dr. King." They were both cut in February of 1966 at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, with the great saxophonist fronting his final quintet with Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Ray Appleton adding percussion. "Manifestation" is also the first recorded instance of Sanders playing the piccolo in addition to his tenor saxophone; he takes an extended solo on the instrument. "Dr. King" was written to honor the civil rights leader during his lifetime. King's assassination occurred less than a year after the saxophonist's death.

Packaged together in this five-disc box set from Verve/Hip-O-Select, these titles represent the albums Impulse issued following John Coltrane's death in 1967, and remain some of the most controversial in his catalog (numerous critics thought – and many still do – that dubious choices were made in assembling them).